My deepest wish
by fairytaleofdust
Summary: AU fanfic - Elizabeth is a happy woman. She has a good husband, a lovely daughter, and the life she has ever wanted. But everybody has got a past, and her life is threatened when a mysterious man starts digging into hers.
1. Chapter 1

_**Ok, it`s my first time writing AU. I don`t even know how it works, so if I`ve broken any rule, let me know. I just really love these characters and came up with a story of my own. Hope you like it.**_

* * *

Elizabeth woke up half an hour before she had to, as she did everyday. She moved out of the bed carefully not to wake her husband up. He liked to sleep as much as he could. She washed and dressed and left the room without making any sound.

She stopped by the room next to hers and opened the door slightly. Inside there was a little girl, 6 years old, sleeping soundly, clutching the _Joy_ plushie her father had brought to her the night before. Since the first time she watched _Inside out_ she had been obsessed with the characters and finally they found something to decorate her room with. She was thrilled when he showed her the toy. And now it rested safe between her little arms.

Elizabeth sighed at the perfect sight and then moved herself towards the kitchen, to start making breakfast.

Eggs, bacon, toast, pancakes, they would have it all this morning. Her husband had been away for a week for work and she wanted to celebrate his return with his favourite meal. She turned the coffee maker on and grabbed the orange juice from the fridge to pour a glass to her daughter. After about 15 minutes, a drowzy man came into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes like a kid. She welcomed him with a kiss.

"Wow! This is all for me?"

"Don't flatter yourself, Donald, this happens everyday" she lied, and then giggled as he stole a strip of bacon from the plate and then moved behind her. He put his hands around her waist, making it difficult to manage the frying pan with the eggs, but she didn't mind. It was so good to have him there.

Maya came into the room a few minutes later, her little hands still clutching the plushie. She was only 6, but was very responsible for her age. She could wake up and wash by herself, and when she showed up it wasn't a surprise for her parents.

"Hey kiddo!" Her father welcomed her ruffling her hair, and she whined. "No, daddy, I just combed it!"

"Well, it looks even better now, sweetie, believe me."

"Mommy!" The girl cried, not really trusting her father. Liz got to her knees to fix her little girl's hair, and then she gave her a little kiss on the cheek, and the girl moved happily to the table.

"Could you please one day stand by me when I say something to her? It's clear you're her favourite, but I would like to have at least an opportunity." It sounded like he was upset, but it was just whinning. Maya noticed her father's disappointment and went to him, grabbing him by the hand. "Come daddy, come sit with me and Joy" to what he turned to Liz and smiled, bragging about their daughter's adorableness.

She was only six months old when he found her. He was following the trail of a drug cartel when he got into a building on fire. Inside, the terrible image of the little baby crying with her birthmother dead on the ground beside her. He didn't think twice, he grabbed her and took her out of the building. When he did that, the baby stopped crying and he knew she had been sent to him. When he took her home, Liz welcomed her like a mother already, and then it was a matter of time to settle officially what was already truth from the start: Maya would be their daughter.

Now, six years after that they were starting to think about kids of their own, but absolutely nothing could change the fact that they were a perfect family already. Liz, Donald and Maya Ressler.

They finished breakfast together and they all helped to clean the table before rushing to get ready for their day. Liz went upstairs to help Maya get dressed while Donald went outside to run for a while. By the time the school bus arrived, the little girl was ready in her thick pink coat, still holding onto the doll her father gave her. Liz took the doll from her promising to keep her safe and kissed her goodbye just in time for Donald to arrive, making the girl rush to give him a hug before climbing on to the bus.

"Bye, honey! Have a good day at school" the couple waved at their daughter and at the bus driver, and then the bus moved, disappearing in the distance.

"And you, Agent Ressler, already off to save the day?" Liz said, turning to put her arm around her husband's neck, while he clutched her around the waist.

"If by saving the day you mean being overwhelmed by stacks of paperwork, sure! But actually, I have the morning off, you know." And he kissed her in the neck. After they adopted Maya, Donald promised Liz to go into a less threatening job in the FBI than field agent, so he was now just an analyst.

"Hum.. Do you? You know what's curious? so do I." She looked at him with mischievous eyes and they both grinned while moving back into the house, under the looks of jealous neighbours.

 **Xxxx**

Donald stepped into the office at the FBI and was immediately called by the director, Harold Cooper.

"Agent Ressler, please, my office"

He moved into the large room and closed the door behind him, and then moved towards the central desk where the imponent man sat. In front of his desk were seating two other people he didn't immediately recognized.

"Donald, these are agent Malik and Navabi, from the counter-terrorist department. They have a case and would like your expertise.

A small woman raised from her chair and reached out her hand to shake his. Her strong British accent explained her poise.

"Agent Ressler, I'm Meera Malik. We were told that you are a specialist in profiling people, is that correct?"

"Yes, that is correct, agent" he confirmed while shaking hands with the other woman, a tall and impressive woman, clearly of Iranian descent. She then proceeded.

"We have knowledge that a former SVR agent, Masha Rostova, has settled residence in the USA under a false name. We need a profiler to analyse her history and come up with possible scenarios that could say where she is and what she is doing here."

"Mind you that this is a very dangerous woman, Agent Ressler, and we should proceed with care. She may be working by herself now, having left the Russian organization. We have intel that says she might be working as a private assassin."

"Ok, sure I'll help. Do you mind if I ask where you got this intel?"

"I'm afraid the identity of our informant is classified. But you will receive all the pertinent infomation on your desk this afternoon."

"You and Agent Mojtabai should create the profiles and a plan of action by the end of the week, Ressler. Please keep me updated, will you?" He nodded as his boss finished his orders, and then greeted the two women before letting himself out of the room. He found his partner Aram a few desks over, and he already knew about their task.

"Tough call, hun? We already have some things about this woman, Rostova. Guess what? No pictures, not even a possible physical description. The woman is a ghost."

"Sure! Just like any other Monday, isn't it?"

 _ **Xxx**_

Liz was having a lazy days as she didn't work on Mondays. She was an English teacher at the local school and had classes only from Tuesdays to Thursdays, a deal that kept her close enough to take care of Maya full time. Sometimes she had to go in on Mondays or Fridays to help with detention, but that wasn't one of those midnays. She stretched and got out of bed after sleeping in when Donald left. She loved those morning when they were left alone at the house, and could keep the fire in their marriage burning. She loved that man more than anything in the world.

She made the bed, and then took a shower. When she got out of the steaming water, she looked at herself in the mirror and sighed, bursting in happiness.

She fiddled with some things in her wardrobe, looking for an old summer dress she had forgotten she had when a big old box fell and almost hit her. She had also forgotten about that box. It was torn on the edges but it was tied shut with a string. She picked it up, cleaned the dust on it and removed the lid, carefully. Inside, her whole past, a past she didn't want to return to. Pictures of herself as a child, next to a man and a woman she barely recognized. She considered them dead a long time ago. One picture called her attention. It was faded, but she could still see the man that had been her hero for so long in her life. She turned over the picture to see scribbled in ink on the top left of it:

 _"Masha and daddy, january, 1990."_

She threw the picture back into the box, tied it shut again and put it back in the wardrobe, making sure it went to the back of the top shelf. Then, she wiped the tears that involuntarily came from her eyes before grabbing any dress from the wardrobe and closing it shut, trying to hide aways those memories. The pictures of a man telling her lies while her mother laid uncouncious on the floor, and then the image of a strong woman, thinking that she had been doing good, filled her mind, and she sobbed a little. she sat by the bed still wearing the towel and then looked over to her room. The picture of her wedding on the bedside table reminded her of what was real. She stoop up, grabbed it and gently rubbed her fingers through Donald's face, smiling in the picture, holding her up while she threw the bouquet. She then put it back to its place and got dressed. A few minutes later, she opened the windows, letting the sun invade her room and warm the bed, and moved towards Maya's room to tidy it and go on with her daily affairs.


	2. Chapter 2

It was already past 9pm when Donald bothered to look at the clock. He jumped out of his chair and started collecting his things. His partner, Aram, looked at him puzzled.

"Damn, it's past 9 already! Liz is going to kill me"

"Ah, the lovely picked fence life of a family dinner" Aram mocked his partner, having already sent an sms to domino's. He organized the papers Donald threw everywhere when he got up, looking exactly as someone who is not planning on going anywhere.

"You mock me, Mojitabai, but you wish you had what I have."

"I'm not gonna deny, Ressler. You don't deserve the woman you have, seriously. I know some day Liz will realise this and come running to me"

Donald grinned. He really enjoyed working with Aram. He was a funny man, and very professional. They had been working together for 7 years now, and he was his bestman

at his wedding. It was a real friendship, right there.

He looked at his phone to find a message from Liz "Are you coming for dinner?" He sighed and typed back "Lost track of time. On my way, please wait". and then added to his partner. "You have 5 seconds to decide coming with me. I'm sure Liz would love to have you for dinner, and it would work as a good excuse for my late."

"nah, my friend, I appreciate it, ut no. There's nothing I would enjoy best than Liz's bad cooking and beautiful laugh, but I will remain here and try to find out more about this task of ours. I'm not sure about those counter-terrorist agents. What did you think of them?"

Donald noticed that Aram kept talking about Agents Malik and Navabi all day, specially of the tall Iranian woman. He wondered if he wanted to keep working so much to try to impress a woman that was clearly out of his league. Well, who was him to say anything. His phone buzzed again to a new message from Liz. "Maya is already sleeping. opening a bottle of chardonay for us" He clearly didn't deserve her either.

"Well, it seems to me as if you want them back asap, which means you want to impress them, or maybe just Agent Navabi?" He hinted, and Aram gave him a punch on the arm. "Dude, you're crazy. Go home. and give Liz a kiss for me, will ya?"

He said goodbye to his partner and rushed towards the elevator.

If he could see his 18 year old self now, he would laugh at the face of the boy who thought he was too good for the married life. He used to defend a life of freedom and danger, and that's why he chose to join the FBI right after he left college. He had become a stiff robot of the law, workaholic and objective, going home to horrible frozen meals or take outs and a single life. He would never ever become a man who would rush to go home to his wife. All of that was shattered the moment he saw those big blue eyes while in the supermarket.

They couldn't have a more typical love story. She was going through the breakfast isle distracted when she bumped her cart onto his, pushing him slightly but enough for him to lose balance and fall over a pile of soup cans. They probably destroyed the work a supermarket employee had taken hours to do, but all she did was laugh. That big delicious laugh that filled his ears and his mind and his heart. After she helped him up, laughing between sorry's, he finally looked through those eyes, and her redened cheeks, and her beautiful wide smile, and knew there and then that the world could come to an end, but he would have that woman in his life.

Truth is that he wasn't very good at flirting, so after all of that he tried to ask her for a cup of coffee, but all he said was "Would you like a cup of soup?" To what she laughed even more. He was about to leave defeated when she grabbed him and said "I don't know about food, but I would kill for coffee". and since then coffee where their thing. or tea. or wine. All they needed was these moments of peace and a drink and a nice talk. they could talk for hours about their days, about the latest news, about the new Terminator film and how it had destroyed the franchise. There was never a dull moment with Liz.

He got home to find it half lit. Only a faint light of the lamp next to the sofa illuminated his way. Next to it, the beautiful shadow of the woman of his dreams. She had her legs folded next to her on the sofa, and was sipping on her glass of wine while the radio played something light and slow. He came from behind her and kissed her on the cheek. She wasn't startled, she knew it was him.

"Hey, babe. How was your day?"

"busy, papers, orders, the whole lot" They didn't talk much of his work. It was classified and she respected that. Sometimes he had to vent about a case, so he used codenames and fictional places, so all she knew was about the time Jack sparrow invaded Narnia and thought he would be able to reign over Hogwarts. And, of course, he had to be careful on what he told her, because he had promised he would stop being a field agent after Maya, but it wasn't exactly true. He was dedicating most of his time working with Aram as a profiler, but he would also go on the field when necessary.

He sat next to her and she immediately placed his glass in front of him, to what he thanked with a sigh, and took a sip. He then removed his shoes and perched up on the couch, to lay his back on her, resting his head on her shoulder. She started fiddling with his blonde hair, and he felt as if he could stay there forever. But then his stomach made sure they knew it was empty. She giggled at the loud sound and said "c'mon, let's eat."

He reluctantly stood up and took her hand, and they walked hand in hand to the kitchen. She heated up the pasta she had made, the only dish she could actually cook without making it too salty, or too bland, or too spicy, or too burnt. She loved cooking, but wasn't very good at it. He would eat whatever she cooked, anyway, and he and Maya had codes on how to try to make her less disappointed at another failure.

But her pasta was delicious. She used bacon crisps on the sauce and just the right amount of seasoning. His stomach felt full and happy after they finished the meal. She took the dishes to the dishwasher and he thanked her with a kiss. After she finished setting the washer, they moved back to the living room, and it was now his time to sit for her to lay her head on his lap. they stood there until late at night, talking and laughing and listening to music and gazing into each other's eyes.

He kept looking at her eyes, still mesmerized by them.

"Do you remember when we met?" She chuckled with the memory.

"Sure I do. I still think that weird guy from wallmart, Kevin, was the one who had pilled up those cans, and he surely marked our faces. He always looks at me strangely when I go there."

"After all these years?" He said, laughing.

"I know, right? So much resentment" she gave a loud laugh and covered her mouth, startled. They stopped for a few seconds to see if Maya had woken up. When no sound was made from the little one's bedroom, she stood up and sat on his lap, putting her hands over his shoulders.

"You know what, Mr. Ressler, I would destroy a thousands piles of soup cans with you"

"well, isn't that romantic, Mrs. Ressler." and they kissed, still laughing. He then picked her up and moved to their room.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

It was late at night, and Aram was still at the office, his pizza half eaten, sipping on a coca cola can and typing things on his computer. He gasped and liquid went flowing around when he stood up, coughing. He cleaned the coke from the screen to reveal the brand new information he had discovered about the target. She was the daughter of a known Russian Criminal, Ivan Rostova, and had worked with none less than international Concierge of crime, Raymond Reddington. It had probably been Reddington who brought her to the USA in the first place, and God knows what he had her do.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed a number, only then noticing the time and cursing himself as a groggy voice spoke on the other end.

"Agent Navabi?"

"hum, erm, Agent Navabi, hi! Hello! Good morning...night. This is Agent Mojitabai, I'm calling because I found some important information about Masha Rostova."

"couldn't this wait until morning, agent?"

"yes, sure. I'm sorry" he slapped his forehead, still hating himself for waking her up. "Bu I've just found what may have been the way and possibly the reason she came to the US." There was an awkward pause before the woman talk again " ok, I'm listening"

"oh, yes, sure! She was never an SVR agent. She worked for her father, Ivan Rostova, and was associated to Raymond Reddington."

he heard the ruffling of sheets and thought the woman had left her bed in a rush. "I'll be there in 30 minutes. Call Director Cooper" and she hung up, leaving him speechless.

the next number he dialled was his partner's. The man was also sleeping.

"Don, man, you won't believe what I just did! I called her, didn't even think, it's so big!"

"Aram! Aram! What is it?" Donald rubbed a hand on his face, trying to wake up.

"Big news! Come quickly, we've had a major breakthrough."

And he hung up the phone. Donald looked at the phone confused, still wondering if he had really spoken to his partner or if it had been a dream. He turned to see Liz sleeping soundly next to him and took a deep breath before leaving the bed. It was 4:50am.

* * *

A/N - oh, Jeez, i could die with so much fluffy. I hope you understand this is just the calm before the storm, I'm preparing a big way to bring more characters in and to turn this story around. Let me know what you think!


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N - Ok, so I write short chapters but it's the only way I keep them updated quickly. If I think about making them longer, I'll take days to post a new one. xD**

* * *

"You need to check this information again, Agent Mojtabai" Agent Navabi was pacing back and forth in front of his computer, and Aram looked extremely stressed. "I've checked it, Agent Navabi. Thousands of times since you arrived. It's legit!"

Donald arrived and they were in the middle of this discussion, which kept on going the same way for another 10 minutes. It only seemed to find an end when Cooper arrived.

"What's the status?" He said, expecting a fast answer from his agents. Donald was completely out of the loop, and Aram and Agent Navabi were still repeating the same sentences.

"Hey!" Cooper raised his voice, and startled everybody. "What the hell is going on? Do you or do you not have something new on the case? Do I have a good reason to be here at 5am and not in my bed with my wife?"

"Sir" Aram beat the woman to it, taking documents to his boss "We've found concrete evidence that says that Masha Rostova was never an agent for the SVR. She worked for a criminal organization called the Cabal, leaded by her father, known Russian criminal Ivan Rostova, and deeply associated with Raymond Reddington."

Cooper let go an involuntary grunt when he heard the name of Raymond Reddington. The guy had been on the top 10 most wanted list for years now and it was impossible to find him. He had been closely responsible for his investigation, and it was always a dead end. They guy was actually too good, and he hated the fact that he had to respect the man.

"This information is incorrect" Agent Navabi insisted.

"Ok, then" Aram sounded angry, and his tone made the woman widen her eyes with surprise. "If you say so, care to share why you are so sure this is incorrect?"

"Our sources say that Masha Rostova used to be an SVR agent and has been working private for sometime. She has never had any contact with her father, and never with Raymond Reddington."

"Well, your sources know nothing!" They were about to start a new back-and-forth discussion when Cooper stopped them.

"Agent Navabi, we will need a bit more than 'our sources say' to really disconsider this information. I totally trust Agent Mojtabai's capability to find information, and besides, this is my team's investigation, and you are not in my team."

The woman exhaled nervously, closed her eyes and put an arm to her waist. Then, she bit her lip, considering before saying.

"This cannot be true because our source is Raymond Reddington. He's our CI"

The three men in the room looked stunned. Raymond Reddington was working for the FBI? It was too surreal.

"You're kidding, right?" say Donald, approaching to understand the situation from closer.

"No, I'm not" she said in a harsh tone. Her strong Iranian accent gave her an even stronger characteristic, and it was easy to imagine her over powering any men. She was definitely a woman with a presence.

"So… Raymond Reddington lied to you" Aram said, and the other people looked at him, who clearly wanted to go back to the discussion. Cooper took over the situation before they started again, and called everybody's attention to what was clearly a crossing of information.

"Agent Navabi, is there any chance that Reddington lied to you?" He asked, politely, since the woman was definitely crossed with the situation.

"He's been giving reliable intel for about 4 months now. The task force has been able to apprehend several criminals with his information. I doubt it."

"If you have a task-force" Donald asked "Why did you need us for this case?"

Samar was nervous, as she was clearly giving too much classified information, but she needed these people working with her, so she calculated how much she could say, and explained the situation.

"Mr. Reddington has his own terms to work with us. He chooses the team for each case, so the task-force changes constantly. For this case, he decided to choose you all. Precisely you, Agent Ressler, and Agent Mojtabai."

"How does he even know me?" Said Donald, surprised. He knew the reputation Reddington had on the bureau and his file as member of the top wanted list, but nothing more. The fact that the men had recruited him precisely to a case was extremely weird.

"We don't know. There's a lot he does not share with us. Frustrating and extremely irritating, I know, but his information is priceless so we need to endure his…personality." The woman looked tired. She was tired of dealing with the desires of a known criminal, serving him as if she was his private maid. She hated every second with him, and of course hated Cooper's suggestion.

"We'll have to bring him in, then. Clarify his information once and for all."

Samar let go a grunt, and then pressed her eyes with her fingers, trying to stop a headache to begin. "Yes, we do, I know. I'll call Agent Malik, and set it up. I can tell you already that we may have to wait until his schedule is open."

"Schedule? We are going to bring him in for questioning." Said Donald.

"Have you got a warrant? Do you think you can get one? If you want him here voluntarily, you'll have to go with his terms. That's the way." They all seemed already tired of Reddington, and they hadn't even met the guy yet.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Liz woke up and didn't find Donald next to her. Instead, there was a note telling her that he had to go earlier because of a case, love, D. She got up and washed and dressed the same way she always did, and then checked on Maya before going downstairs. She was about to decide what to make for her daughter when the phone rang. She found it strange, someone calling at this hour, but it could be Donald so she picked up.

"Hello?" she whispered, slumber still in her voice.

"Hello, Lizzie, how are you?" She immediately recognized the voice, and had to sit down.

"How did you find this number?"

"Lizzie, please, listen. I need to talk to you, it's urgent. You have no idea…"

"You stay away from me, you hear? Stay away!" and then she hung up. Tears were falling uncontrollably from her eyes, and she was shivering from head to toe. She had to put herself together quickly when Maya approached, worried.

"Mommy, are you okay?"

"Yes, baby, I'm fine. Don't worry, ok?" she cleaned her face with the back of her hands and then hugged her daughter. She looked at the front door closed and wondered if there was anyone there, if there was any danger outside. She didn't want to think about it, but she couldn't think about anything else. This call would be forever in her mind.

"What do you want for breakfast, baby?" she tried to change the atmosphere of the situation at least for now, focusing on Maya.

"Poptarts!" the girl screamed, with a wide smile that could soften even the hardest of the hearts. Liz smiled and stood up, grabbing her daughter's hand to go to the kitchen. She couldn't avoid looking at the door one more time with the corner of her eye.

They ate breakfast, changed and Maya went to school while Lizzie went to work. When she came back home, she called the phone company and asked for a new number. She considered changing the door locks as well, but then she would have to explain to Donald why the sudden change, and she didn't want to worry him. At least the phone number she could say it was because the old one was getting interference or something, and it was the company's decision.

She was still shivering, even hours after the phone call. How had he got that number? Was he close? What was he going to do? He had promised to say away from her, leave her to have a life, why was he back now?

She decided to let go of that by now. She send a text to Donald informing of the new number, and then went to help Maya with her homework.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The entire war room stopped to watch when he came in. Despite all the warnings from Samar Navabi, Raymond Reddington was pleased to talk to the FBI right when they called. No fuss, no warrant, nothing. He just dropped by.

The man had a presence of a king. Charming, wearing a neat suit old style and a fedora hat, it wasn't difficult to understand why he had the whole world at his hands. Right behind him, a tall dark and strong man followed him closely.

After a few steps into the room, he stopped, and put a hand up to stop his bodyguard.

"That's ok, Dembe. I'm sure director Cooper won't mind if you go to the break room and get us a cup of coffee." He didn't even look at Cooper, who just directioned Dembe towards the break room. Reddington turned to Aram instead.

"Agent Mojtabai, what an honor. Please." And he hugged Aram, who stood there awkwardly trying to understand how the men knew his name, or even thought that he had the right for such invasion of personal space. Then, he turned to Donald.

"Agent Ressler. How's the wife?" Donald's first instinct was to put the man to the ground and ask him why he was asking about his family, but a look from Agent Navabi made Reddington go back. "Send her my best, will you?"

"Ok, Red, let's go into the interrogation room"

"As you wish, my dear." He then turned back to Aram and said "Personally I think she's out of your league, but I'd give it a shot, if I were you. We can never explain what a woman thinks." And pointed slightly to Samar. Aram was left stumbling on words, trying to explain that there was absolutely nothing that would make him think there was any other kind of relationship with Agent Navabi.

The man entered the room, followed by Samar, and later Cooper and Dembe, taking the cups of coffee. The other men entered the conjoined room, and observed the questioning attentively through the one-sided mirror.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N - AAHH it's so hard to write Reddington! I want to add all the amazingness James Spader brought to the character, but UGH. Well, this is my Red. Hope you like it!**

 **PS: Yes, I did have some inspiration on a little awesome spy show called Alias. my favourite, can't help it. and I do think there's a bit o' Sydney in Liz, so...**

* * *

Reddington took his place on the table in the center of the room and thanked Dembe for the coffee. The men bowed to his boss before leaving the room. Cooper sat on the opposite side of him, and Samar stoop up next to the desk.

"So, what is it that you couldn't wait to talk to me?"

Samar started. "You have informed us at the counter-terrorism department about several criminals, and this time you pointed us towards a Russian assassin, Masha Rostova, correct?"

"Assassin? Hun, interesting. I told you Masha was a Russian SVR agent who set home in the USA, and had to be found. I like how you already distorted my words"

Cooper was surprised, but tried to keep his poker face while observing the interrogation.

"If she's not an assassin, what is she? Because she's not an SVR agent, Reddington" Samar told him, but he didn't seem surprised with the news. He kept silent.

"We have intel that said she worked for a criminal organization funded and associated to your business."

Now he seemed surprised. "Me? Never would I get involved with Ivan Rostova, my dear". So he did know more than he said he did.

"So you know Ivan Rostova?" said Cooper. "Would you like to share what you know about him?"

"Ivan Rostova is a Russian murderer, mercenary and cruel, cruel drugs dealer. He made money out of the deaths of many people in Moscow, including his own wife, Katerina. Masha grew up to go against the father, joining the SVR to hunt him."

"Except she never did. There is no record of her being an agent." Samar revealed. "What we have in your profiles is that she worked for her father, and was a ruthless assassin."

"I doubt that this profiles were made by Agents Mojtabai and Ressler, as I asked. Masha Rostova never worked for her father."

"Clearly, we have a problem with the information here, Reddington. And we cannot do anything regarding Rostova if we don't clarify this before."

Reddington stopped and analyzed Cooper for a while before asking politely for Samar to leave the room. The agent refused, and he said he wasn't going to say anything else if she didn't leave. Cooper then insisted, and, reluctantly, the woman left. Reddington was smart enough to ask Cooper to turn off the microphones and connections to the other room before he started talking.

"Ok, Reddington. We did more that we should to please you. If you have any information, say it."

"Masha Rostova is in danger. What really happened was that she was working for a branch of her father's organization that disguised itself as SVR. She thought the whole time that she was doing good, until the day her mother died, and she found out the truth. My connection with it all is that I helped her to get out of Russia and set her life in the USA. This was 10 years ago."

"And you lost contact with her?"

"Never had it, to be exact. She has a different memory of what happened to her mother. The thing is that there is a man, he calls himself Berlin, and he is after her."

"Is he working for Ivan Rostova?"

"Ivan Rostova is dead. Died in Russia 5 years ago, I was actually surprised to learn that. Apparently, Berlin had something to do with that. I don't know much about him, and I have to confess, that get to my nerves a bit. All I know is that he took over Ivan's business and is now hunting Masha."

"Why would he be so interested in her?"

"She was the daughter of the man, Agent Cooper. She worked for him, even that without knowledge. And allegedly she possesses something that is very interesting for Berlin."

"Something? What?"

"A file, containing all the information of the organization, and their corrupt associations. Things that could bring down a whole government in Russia, and many other countries. Something that, in the right hands, could make a king out of a man. And he believes it's with her."

"If that's the truth, Reddington" Cooper seemed intrigued, and Reddington respected that in the man. They knew each other for the years of hunt they lived in opposite sides, and there was a sign of mutual respect in the room. "Why did you give Masha's name to the counter-terrorism department, and not Berlin's?"

"Because there is a mole inside that department."

Cooper was shocked. It was always a shock to know that there was someone inside the FBI providing information for the other side. It was hard to believe that someone who made a promise to protect the country suddenly goes against it.

"Who? How can you be so sure?"

"I gave then Masha's name as someone to be tracked down and protected,and what gets to you? that she's an assassin. Just do the math, Harold. Now, who they are I don't know. That's your job. That's why I asked Agents Navabi and Malik to come to you. I knew Agent Mojtabai would find the information about Masha and me and you would have to talk to me because of it. You see, when I came to the department to offer my information, they accepted all my demands, considering that I offered only them with information. Which meant I couldn't come directly to you with this. They are hunting Masha, but I need you to protect her, and find the mole."

That's why he asked Samar to leave. She could be the mole. No way could she learn about all this that Reddington was giving Cooper. The case had become slightly more complicated, Cooper thought.

"You see, it's crucial that you include agent Ressler in the search. He's the key to all this."

"Why Ressler?"

"All to its time, Harold. You already know enough. And I'm late for my massage appointment. You see, I have to bid you farewell."

And the man just stood up, opened the door and left, leaving a stunned Cooper behind him.

Two steps into the war room, and Reddington came back and put his head inside the interrogation room. "Oh, yes, I nearly forgot. Berlin works close with a man, Tom Keen. He's specialized in creating aliases and infiltrating people's lives. I believe Keen already know where Masha is. If you find him, you find her."

And with a nod of his fedora, he left.

Samar invaded the room right after he left, nervous.

"What did he say?

"I'm sorry, agent Navabi, but this is my investigation now"

"You can't shut us out, Cooper. This is our jurisdiction".

"and I'm sending an email to the director to transfer the investigation to my team. It's what Reddington wants, and I believe this is part of the agreement you formed with him, isn't it? You'll be informed on a need to know basis."

The woman looked furious, but there was nothing Cooper could do. He had to leave her out of this. He left the interrogation room, and on his way to his office, called for Aram and Donald. The two agents were baffled, not knowing what was going on, but followed him.

A strong thud was heard, a sign that they were closed in the director's room, and would be for a long time.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Liz went to the supermarket with Maya, and while walking through those isles that brought so many memories, she was able to let aside the phone call for a bit. Maya was running in front of her, picking up things they would definitely not take home, while she walked slowly, pushing a cart, stopping occasionally to return to the shelves whatever the little girl had put inside.

"Oh, please mommy, let me take it!"

"Of course not, missy. Last time you bought cereal, it was completely forgotten! I had to throw the entire box away!"

"It was because I didn't like lucky charms. But I love Captain Crunch, mommy, I swear!" It was hard not to fall into those little eyes' power of manipulation, but Liz was stronger. She was the mother, after all.

"No. Hey, let's take some pop tarts boxes. Those you eat."

"Okay." And the girl returned the 5 boxes of Captain crunch that she had taken from the shelves.

Liz passed through the soups and took some cans. They hated those canned soups, but it was an inside joke that was always popular at home. She smiled alone when a man approached her.

"Something funny about the soups?" He was tall, and quite handsome. Sometimes, Liz allowed herself to flirt and look at other men. It gave her a sense of adventure, especially because all she ever wanted after these encounters was to go home to her husband. He was the best adventure she could ever had.

"yes, well. It's a long story"

"I don't like those, you know. I very much prefer a homemade soup"

"Well, I hate them too. But I would never ever dare try to make a soup myself. I'm a disaster! So they are all we have."

"We? So you are a we, hun?" He sounded disappointed, and Liz loved that. The "sorry, man, I'm taken" grin she always gave to the bold ones that approached her came to her face.

"My husband and I actually met because of these, you know. So it's kind of special for us."

"Oh, I see. Well, I'd say he's a lucky man, but not for the soup, definitely."

He was a funny one. Moreover, he hadn't given up even after learning she was married. She looked over to check up on Maya, who was coming towards her carrying 6 packets of oreos. He noticed it.

"She's yours?" Liz nodded. "Very lucky man indeed. Sorry, I'm being a creep. My name is Tom" and he reached his hand to shake hers. She took a few seconds to respond. "Liz."

"I'm new in the neighborhood, and I don't know much about it. Found this Walmart and was so glad. Have you been living here long?"

She was always careful not to give out too much information. The phone call came back to her mind, as a clear reason not to be so naïve with strangers. But Tom seemed to be a nice guy.

"Yes, since me and Don got married, 8 years ago. It's a very nice neighborhood. You'll like it."

"I already do" He said, and she was starting to fell uncomfortable with his comments. She decided to get Maya and leave.

"OK, Tom. I hope you have a good day, and stay away from the soups. Good bye" she gave a smile, and called Maya to go with her. She took a moment to remove the oreos and packs of candy from the cart and waved him goodbye as she walked away. He just stood there, by the soups, observing her as she went away. He seemed weird, but she didn't give it too much thought.

"Who is he, mommy?" Maya asked, grabbing her hand and skipping a bit to keep up with her mother's speed.

"Just a nice man who moved to the neighborhood, sweetie. Now let's go home, okay? Daddy will be there soon".


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N - Longer chapter here, hope you like it. I love how each time I sit to write I change some ideas, but I like it. Please if you can take some time to send me a message I'd love to read your reviews. It's very important for me to know what you guys think while I write the next chapter.**

* * *

Cooper was especially mysterious as he closed the door to his office, and then quietly closed the blinds on the windows to the war room. He then signaled to his agents to sit down, and then did the same himself.

"What happened with Reddington, Cooper?" asked Donald, curious. They had observed the whole conversation, but didn't hear anything. Reddington was clever enough to speak directly to Cooper, so he would be behind the assistant director, and they wouldn't be able to read his lips.

"Samar was furious the whole time, since Mr. Reddington sent her away. Why did he do that? Aren't they his contact?"

Cooper took a deep breath, and looked to the corners of the room, as if looking for a sign of a camera, or an observer. Then, he spoke to his agents.

"The case is much worse than we imagined. Masha Rostova isn't the criminal. She's the victim. But the counter-terrorism department can not know we know that." He told everything Red told him to Donald and Aram, who listened to it quiet and attentively. To each new detail, each revelation, they got even more astonished. They prospect of having a mole inside the FBI was beyond imagination. They deliberated over telling Agents Navabi and Malik about the mole, but it could be one of them, so they decided to keep this information until they could know better about the two women.

They immediately started researching about Berlin. And found nothing useful. The fact that the man was known for an alias, and not a real name, was already a problem, but they found out that he wasn't very popular out there, so there wasn't much to go on. They deepened the research on Ivan Rostova and his business in Russia, only to confirm that he used to keep branches under the disguise of governmental facilities, so not to inform all employees of the true nature of his negotiations, which involved selling arms and secret information. That was probably why there was an office working with the fantasy of being SVR, and that was what Masha thought she was doing. He used to do this all over the world, and when Berlin took over, he kept it functioning in the same way. They wondered if there was one of these offices with people believing they worked for American agencies. It was cruel, they thought, and they had to stop it.

The research on Tom Keen was a bit more satisfying. The man had had many aliases and employers in his career, which indicated that he was for hire, therefore, with no allegiance. He was recently spotted as Jacob Phelps, the husband of Audrey Bidwell, the daughter an important senator, Senator James Bidwell. He was stealing information that would probably be interesting for his latest employer, Berlin. James Bidwell lost his position because of the leakage, and Audrey was the one who discovered his real intentions. She couldn't handle the heartbreak, being pregnant, and killed herself. He was in the wind. Or, as Red had said, he was back with Berlin. For a man with no allegiance, the fact that he was known to be with Berlin meant something. Maybe Berlin was more than an employer.

"We should talk to Senator Bidwell" suggested Donald, and himself and Aram got up to go to the elevator.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Hey babe. How are things?" Donald used the time of the ride to Senator Bidwell's house to call Liz and ask about the sudden change of the landline number.

"Hey! It's all fine. We are preparing dinner. I found a recipe of a chicken that seems really simple, Don. I think I might get things right this time!" He considered grabbing something from a drive-thru before driving home, but she sounded so excited, that he chose to give her a chance.

"Can't wait to try it, Liz!" Aram laughed at the thought of Liz's food, and Donald had to give him a slight push so he would quiet down. "Now tell me, what happened to the landline?"

Liz took a deep breath and then stuttered to explain how the company had messed up the numbers and had to renew the contract in the area, changing the numbers, but he knew something was off. He could always tell her lies, and this time she was so distressed that even over the phone he had a bad feeling. It wasn't really the time or place to force her to tell the truth, so he decided to postpone it for dinner. They were almost at Senator Bidwell's anyway.

"Ok, hon. I'll get home as soon as I'm finish here, ok?"

"OK. Will it take long?"

"No. just some paperwork." He lied. Aram clicked his tongue, disapprovingly. "I love you."

"Love you to, babe. See you soon" and they hung up as Aram parked the car in front of the big house that belonged to the Senator.

"You should tell her, man. Imagine something happens to you, would you like her to find out through a set of uniformed man that the husband she thought was working desk duty was killed in the field?"

Donald knew that it was true, Aram was right, but that would be a difficult conversation. Never had he lied for so long to Liz. They didn't keep secrets from each other.

"I'll tell her"

"Stop postponing the fight. She'll understand, man. She's a great woman".

They both exited the car and then moved towards the door. A few knocks on the knocker and an uniformed maid opened it.

"Good evening, ma'm. We are Agents Ressler and Mojtabai, from the FBI. We need to talk to Mr. Bidwell, please?"

The woman nodded and then moved inside the house. A few minutes later and the man appeared at the door. Tall, slim and with a face that didn't look old, but also looked experienced, as the face of a politician should be.

"Can I help you, gentlemen?"

"Mr. Bidwell. I'm Agent Ressler, this is Agent Mojtabai, and we need to talk to you about Tom Keen."

The man's face changed immediately from a polite and welcoming smile to a frown of sadness and hate. He opened the door after a long sigh and allowed the agents to come in.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"We know it's a very difficult matter, Mr. Bidwell" said Aram, trying to comfort the man who was now looking through the books in his bookcase as the maid served them coffee. He took a book from the shelf and opened it on the coffee table. It was a photo album. On the photo, the face of a beautiful woman smiling at her wedding. She looked like a princess, enveloped in the arms of a man. Tall, dark hair, green eyes, handsome.

"He is charming, isn't he? No one could ever believe what he did to Audrey. He seemed like the perfect man, and they were a perfect match. She wanted a complicated life of a politician, and he was her harbor, living what seemed to be a simple life of a high school teacher. He told her he taught Geography, and he was good. He used to tell her geographical facts, curiosities, and she believed he was passionate about his work. It was very easy to believe him. I even considered using him in my campaign, as he said he had geopolitical background, and had worked for a consulate once."

"What consulate, did he mention?"

"Russia, I think, or Bieloruss. It doesn't really come to mind, agents, it's been a while since I was able to erase this man from my life"

"I'm sorry, sir. Is there anything else you could say to us that is important about him?"

The man pondered for a while, sipping his coffee. Then, looked deep into Donald's eyes and said, in tone of warning.

"He's good, Agent Ressler. Very good. He will charm his way into someone's life like no other. You will love him, truly. But he's also ruthless. He killed 2 of my assistants as if they were flies. It was brutal. Please, if you have a chance of catching him, do it. the world will be better without him. That may bring my Audrey some peace. And me."

Donald felt sorry for the man. He looked at the picture again, memorizing the face of Tom Keen, and at the same time noticing Audrey. She was beautiful, and seemed to be a very intelligent woman. She didn't deserve what she got. He felt even more determined to find Keen. For this woman that he didn't know. And for the woman he couldn't say whether was good or bad.

They thanked Senator Bidwell and went away. Aram was walking in front of Donald, who had to go back inside to pick up his wallet, which had fallen out of his pocket. A few steps outside of the porch, with Aram close to the car, something happened.

The light was blinding, and the sound was deafening. Parts of the car flew everywhere as the bomb exploded, tossing them far away. Donald hit the arm pretty hard on the stairs of the house when he landed. He tried to put himself up, but it was hard, as his left arm was barely useless. The buzzing in his ears was a consequence of the explosion, and he noticed Senator Bidwell and his maid left the house to see what was going on.

"Call the police! Now" Donald screamed, as he ran as fast as he could, only one thing in his mind. _Aram was close to the car_.

"Aram!" he screamed, and had no response. His heart was pounding inside him, the thought of losing his partner this way clouding his thoughts. That's when he heard a grunt to the right of the burning car, and a weak response.  
"Ressler! I'm… I'm here"

Aram landed hard on the picket-fence that surrounded the house, and hit his head on the tree that was right behind it, but he was conscious. Donald ran to him to see his friend really bad, but alive.

"Are you okay?" Donald asked as a reflex, as he knew Aram wasn't.

"My head. It hurts." Donald saw that it was bleeding, as well as Aram's arm and leg, which had a nasty wound. A piece of the car was lodged on his right leg.

"don't move. We've called the paramedics. You'll be alright." He said as he sat next to his friend.

"what the hell was that?" They both observed the burning car as the lights and sound of the firefighters and paramedics approached.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Liz stormed through the hospital doors desperate. She went straight to the reception and nearly grabbed the nurse by the neck when she told her to wait, calmly.

"Donald Ressler, FBI agent, he was in a car explosion. For god's sake, miss, don't do this to me!"

"Liz" a voice called from her left, and she turned on her heels to find Harold Cooper standing there. She ignored the nurse and went straight to her husband's boss.

"What happened, Harold? Where is he?" She had tears in her eyes, and tracks through her face that proved she had been crying all the way. He put a hand on her shoulder to try to calm her down.

"It's okay, Liz. He's fine. Aram is on surgery, though. He had a very ugly wound on his leg."

"will he be alright?" she asked, concerned for Donald's partner, her friend too.

"I hope so, we haven't had any news yet. C'mon, I'll take you to Don."

He was sitting on the bed, his left hand rested on a cast, and his face had many bruises and cuts. But overall, he was okay. She ran to him and hugged him, forgetting that he had a bad arm.

"Ow! Ow! Liz, love!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, Don. I'm sorry." She stepped back, but he held her close and then opened space on the bed for her to sit next to him.

"I'm okay, Liz, it's okay' he consoled her, as he noticed the tracks of tears on her face. He stroke his thumb slightly through them, and them cupped her chin to kiss her. Howard left the room to give them privacy. She broke the kiss and gave him a slight shove.

"Damn it Donald Ressler can you imagine what I thought when I got the call?" she was mad. "'Sorry ma'm, but your husband was involved in a car bombing.' No, I though, my husband is sitting behind a desk in his office, safe and sound, going through paperwork, as he told me!" He knew he was in much bigger trouble than he had been with the bomb.

"Liz, calm down, I can explain."

"Can you, Donald? Can you? What if it was you instead of Aram closer to the car, hun? What if you had entered the car, Donald? What would I have done if you… if you…" she started crying again, and he tried to pull her close. She fought back a few times, being very stubborn, but caved in and put her face on his shoulder, breathing on his neck.

There were only two situations when Liz called him Donald; when they were making love, and when she was mad at him. He much preferred the first situation, and knew that now he had to give her what he had been hiding from her for approximately 6 years. Damn, it was a hell of a time lying to the one he loved most. He hated himself for a minute.

"Liz, c'mon" he pushed her away for a few inches to look at her eyes. He hated so much to see them full of tears like that, and took a deep breath before telling the whole story. "Yeah, I lied about moving to desk job. I didn't. Never did." She looked baffled, and then tried to say something, but he shushed her and kept talking. "I couldn't, Liz. You know me, I need this."

"What about me, Donald? What about Maya?"

"I never stop thinking about you two. Ever. And I'm always careful, my love, for you, and for our girl."

"You call this careful?" she pointed at his broken arm.

"I don't know what happened there, Liz. You know that I'm very good at shooting, I am careful when it comes to fire range. But this time it was unexpected, we had no idea the car had been fixed with a bomb. There was no way of knowing. We went to question a witness, find out more about the case. We don't even know much about it, I don't know why whoever it was thought they had to kill us." She sobbed at the sound of the word kill, but understood. Being in the field, an FBI agent, in the action, protecting people, was what made Don so amazing, and what she loved about him. She couldn't take this from him.

"Please, Don, promise me" Back to Don. She's okay, now. "You are not allowed to die on me, do you understand?" and she kissed him. He couldn't avoid a laugh mid-kiss.

"You got it, Ma'm", and he held her head, tangling his fingers through her hair, to kiss her even more.

Maya stayed with their neighbor, Juliet, and Liz was going to sleep in the hospital with Don. She dozed off in the couch next to the bed a few hours later, tired. Harold Cooper was still there, as he entered the room after they talked to inform that Aram was out of surgery, and was going to be okay, although they couldn't really say if his leg would be completely recovered for now. He would probably need physiotherapy and some time to heal.

Then, the assistant director stayed in the room talking to Don and Liz. He stood up and grabbed his coat when it was 15 past 10pm.

"I better go, or else Charlene will start thinking that I lied about being in the hospital because of you two, and in reality it is I there stuck in a bed." Donald laughed. He liked his boss as a friend, and had an enormous respect for him. The fact that he stayed until Aram was out of surgery to ensure his agent was out of danger was noble.

"Ressler!" He called, coming back from the door as he remembered. "Reddington said that there something special about involving you in this case."

"me? But why? What is so special about me?"

"He didn' say. But I thought you should know. This bombing may indicate exactly that. Be careful with Tom Keen and Berlin. Let's take it slow, now. I think it's the best for all of us."

And he left the room, leaving a pensive Donald behind. Had that bomb been planted there for him? Had he been the cause of his partner's serious injury? He would never be able to forgive himself if something happened to Aram's leg. He moved from the bed and went to the couch. He kissed Liz slightly on the cheek and when she woke up, motioned her to go to bed with him. He put his good arm around her and covered them both with the white blankets as she curled next to him. He kissed her on the top of the head and then settled himself to a comfortable position before sleeping.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N - Wow, okay. Get ready for some angst. It's a very long chapter, and I'm trying to take it to an end, because I'm afraid I might get lost. Let me know if you think It's getting weird, okay? Thanks for all the reviews!**

 **Yes, it takes place about 4 months after the bomb, so I could bring Aram back (IDK if it's really enough time to recover, but in my universe it is xD).**

* * *

It took about a month for Donald to lose the cast, so for this time he was left with desk duty. It was better than nothing, considering that Aram stayed in the hospital 3 months after the bombing. His partner was slowly coming back to work, and they still hadn't found much about what happened, and who did that.

They couldn't find much about Masha Rostova either, except that she lived in NY for 5 months after she disappeared from Russia, but her roommate didn't know about her anymore.

"She told me about meeting a guy, I guess, but she was always mysterious. 5 months after she moved in she comes, hands me cash for 1 month rent and then says she needs to go. Haven't seen or heard about her since. "

It was difficult also because the agents from the counter-terrorism department were becoming a problem. They just couldn't accept that Cooper wasn't going to share whatever happened in his private conversation with Reddington. Meera Malik was the biggest problem.

One day, 4 months after Donald and Aram had been hit by a mysterious bomb, that she came in with news that could change everything.

"I have here an order written by the Presidential representative saying that you are supposed to share whatever Raymond Reddington told you without the presence of one of our agents."

She invaded Cooper's office and pinned this document on his desk, looking more determined than ever. Cooper calmly took the paper in his hands and read it. it was really an important document signed by important people. Maybe he would have to share. Bit by bit, he decided. There were still things his team could do before he was forced to tell her. If she doesn't know she can't really say when it's over, when there is more.

"Sit down, agent Malik. You might not be so happy after I tell you."

He spent more than 1 hour talking to her, and then the entire war room heard when she lost her temper and said "This man is playing with us all, Agent Cooper!". Eyes turned towards the office, and all attentions were to them. She left the room and used this attention to announce her thoughts to everybody.

"Raymond Reddington may have told you that there is a mole inside the counter-terrorism department. He said that Masha Rostova is innocent and there is a terrorist called Berlin after her. This information happens to be wrong. What only proves that Raymond Reddington is on their side, and is trying to blow us off. Masha Rostova is a ruthless killer, dangerous and must be brought to custody immediately. She is unpredictable and we cannot have her running about like this. Agent Mojtabai, what do you have on her identity?"

Aram was confused and didn't know what to do while the little British woman kept looking at him with hasty eyes, while in his mind he pondered how much he liked Agent Navabi better. A nod by Cooper told him that he could share whatever he had with the woman, what wasn't much.

"We were able to track down her first stop once she came to the USA. She lived in a small apartment in Queens for 4 months. She had signed an agreement for 1 year, but left without notice. After that, we still have no leads."

The woman showed clearly signs of irritation and disappointment with this information, and Cooper feared his plan of telling her half-truths wouldn't really work.

"If we really want to understand what's going on, we must find Masha Rostova. She is the only one that can clarify the information."

"Do you really believe that if she is a trained assassin she's just going to come and tell us what's going on? She's gonna play for the side that better benefits her, Cooper" Malik's tone was almost as if all of those people were dumb. Inside her mind, that's what she was thinking.

"I'm not planning on asking her, Agent Malik" Cooper returned her tone with a calm one. "We're bringing her in, and we will question her, and then decide which accusations must really be done against her. We need to understand what she's doing in the USA, what she's been doing here for the past 10 years and why we are just now hearing about her."

"Maybe what Reddington said is true" Aram tried to bring some of his opinion and took the risk. "Maybe she was lied to, and decided to retire from that life. Coming here would be an attempt to start anew."

"This is lovely, Agent Mojtabai, almost a Danielle Steele novel" yes, Aram definitely hated the woman. He shared a look with his partner, and Donald just agreed with him with his eyes and kept listening. For Donald, all his instincts were tingling. He didn't want to ignore Reddington's warnings, as the man had included him as an important part of the puzzle, and for him, Agent Malik was too defensive to be innocent. Maybe she's the mole. He decided to try her out.

"Agent Malik" he called her attention, and she turned on her heels to look at him "We are far from trusting a criminal with Raymond Reddington's record blindingly as you assume we are. But you came to us to profile Masha Rostova, and now you come with a complete profile of the woman. May we ask where did you get all this information, because nothing as such came to our attention."

The woman became furious. Somehow, Donald felt almost sure that she was the mole, and he was about minutes to figure her out. What he didn't expect was for her to do what she did.

"I expect a profile on her to be ready by tonight, Agent Ressler, and maybe we can compare our data. Don't you dare defy me. You are definitely hiding something, and if Raymond Reddington's word is more important to you, than maybe you should rethink your priorities." And then she stormed out.

The people in the war room looked at one another perplexed and confused, but Donald and Cooper shared a look of understanding. Meera Malik was definitely a suspect. She didn't like the fact that their investigation had turned its attention towards Berlin and Tom Keen, and was being very emphatic on that. Maybe too emphatic.

Donald returned his attention to the documents that showed sightings of Tom Keen in Washington, D.C.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

It was a calm day, the sun was up and all the kids were out, playing. Maya was not an exception. She loved spending time at the playground in the park near their house, and Liz loved taking her there. While Maya kept playing with the other kids, she had time to grade her papers in a nice and relaxing environment, and not her cramped room at the school.

She was sitting on a bench taking over all the space with papers on "The Scarlet Letter" on one side, and a Venti cup of coffee on the other. Now and then, she would take glances to check up on Maya, who was playing with the kids from the neighborhood.

Maya was playing fetch with some of the kids, and it was her turn. Two girls from the bunch were playing unfairly, by saying that Maya could not touch them, as they were immune to her catching. She was on the verge of tears when a grown up came to her rescue.

"Hey! That doesn't seem fair, does it?" a tall man came up, stood beside Maya and looked terrifying to the other girls, who ran away. Maya looked up and recognized him as the man who was talking to her mother at the supermarket the other day. He kneeled down to be on her level and smiled at her.

"Hello, Maya, how are you?" Maya took a step back so he wouldn't touch her, as he intended to put his hands on her elbows.

"My mom is right over there." She said, pointing at the bench where Liz was sitting, looking baffled at a paper which went too far on their definition of Hester Pryne's character. She wasn't looking up. Tom Keen looked at where the girl pointed, and smiled.

"Oh, yes, I've talked to your mother already. She's so busy, isn't she? She told me to come here and take you to get a refill for her coffee. She thought you might be hungry. Do you want a muffin?"

The girl still wasn't buying him, and dodged his hands trying to grip her again.

"I'm okay, thanks. I'm going to slide now." And turned to go back closer to the playground when he grabbed her shoulder a little bit to strongly for a 6 year old. She cried with pain as he covered her mouth and turned her so she would look straight into his eyes.

"Listen to me carefully, Maya dear. I'm not going to hurt you, but I need you to help me with something. I need you to tell your daddy that you want him to help you with throwing. You want to get in the girls baseball team, you get it?"

The girl shook her head, scared. Tears were filling up her eyes.

"Now, listen to me. I'm going to let you go, and you are not going to scream, or tell your mom about me, ok? You are going to the slide, as you told me before. Don't look back, don't look for me, and if you tell your mom or your dad about our conversation, I'll kill them, and it will be your fault, okay?"

The girl nodded to agree again, visibly crying now. He let her go, and she swallowed a whimper. He grabbed her arms and told her to stop crying. "Be brave now, my love. No need for crying, I'm not here to hurt you. remember what we agreed ok?" the girl shook her head again, wiping the tears with the sleeves of her coat. She took a deep breath before running to the slide, doing her best to pretend nothing was wrong. She didn't look back.

A few minutes later, she dared a look towards the place where the man had approached her, and was glad to see he was gone. She abandoned the slides and went to her mother. She made an effort not to cry.

"mommy, I'm hungry. Can we go home?" Liz had just finished signing a D on the paper she was reading and then looked at her daughter. She immediately noticed the tracks of tears on her face, and the swelling of her eyes.

"Honey, are you okay? Have you been crying?"

The girl looked around, scared, and then lied. "I fell out of the swing, but I'm okay. Can we go?"

"Are you hurt? Why didn't you call me?

"I'm okay, mommy. Let's go"

"okay, okay. Help me grab my things, will ya?" Liz looked around, suspecting there was more to what Maya had told her. She looked at the playground and imagined that if Maya had really fell, one of the mothers there would've helped, called her, or at least made a loud comment on how she was a terrible mother for not paying attention while her daughter played. Nothing like that happened, and there were a lot of moms there. She looked at Maya, and noticed the girl was trying to hide something, and looked terrified. She knew something was wrong, but wasn't going to push her. Not here, anyway. They finished collecting the papers, Liz threw the empty coffee cup in the bin and then they walked home.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The rest of the afternoon went by, and Maya sat in front of the tv, quiet, dodging her mother's attempts to guess what had really happened at the park. When Donald came in, around 8pm, both felt relieved.

"Daddy!" Maya came running and hugged him tightly. He took her up and carried her towards the living room, while Liz entered the room from the kitchen. She gave him a welcome kiss and said they were having pizza for dinner.

"There's this new place nearby that sells ready meals, I tried at the store, it's delicious. They are just warming up in the oven." The house smelled of cheese and basil, and his stomach reacted with a hungry growl. He put Maya down and she grabbed his hand, leading him to the couch.

"Come, Daddy, I want to talk to you!"

"What is it, sugar?"

"daddy, I need your help" the girl was nervous, but she knew she had to do what the man said. "I want to join the baseball team."

That was a surprise for both Donald and Liz. The girl had never showed any interest in sports, having a knack for arts. She was an avid drawer, and her drawings kept getting better and better. They were even considering turning the shed on the backyard into a mini studio for her to paint. They could never expect her to be interested in baseball.

"Are you sure, baby? Baseball?"

"Yes, I want you to help me throw" the girl wanted to seem excited, but Liz could read right through her. That had something to do with her behavior in the park.

"Ok, then. Let's eat and then we can throw a bit at the backyard."

"Ok." The girl sighed and then went back to her cartoon. Donald got up from the couch and went to the kitchen.

"That was new" he said, peeking over Liz's shoulder as she took the pizzas from the oven.

"I don't know, Don. She's been weird since we came from the park. I guess something happened."

"What happened?" he seemed worried. He always was, when it came to something weird happening to his family. Last time a mysterious bomb went off in his car. He hated the feeling that whatever he was investigating could bite him in the ass and come after them.

"I don't know. I was grading papers, so I wasn't looking. But she came to me, and she had been crying, I know it. she said she fell from the swings, but there were a lot of adults there, someone would've called my attention, right?"

"Why was she crying , then?"

"I don't know. But she wanted to come home immediately. Since then she's been quiet, looking over her shoulder"

Don looked at their daughter, who was now peacefully watching television, sitting cross-legged on the carpet in front of the sofa. She didn't seem distressed, but she was only 6. We can never know how something really affects a child.

"Hey, don't worry, ok? If she says she want to learn how to throw, I'll throw with her. Maybe while we're at it I can explore a little bit. Leave it to me, alright?" and he kissed her cheek , trying to brush the concerned look off her face. He helped her set the table and they all sat to eat.

A few slices of pizza later, Donald stood up and said "Ok, who's ready for some baseball?"

Maya wasn't as excited anymore, but she complied "Yes, okay." He shared a look with Liz, who was now cleaning the table.

"I'm going upstairs to find my ball and glove, ok, Maya? I'll be right down."

While he went upstairs, Maya went to the living room and turned on the tv again. She looked upset, not really watching the cartoon, but looking down at her feet. Liz put down the dishes and went to her.

"Hey, kiddo." She took the girl's chin and gently directed her face to look at her. "What's wrong, hun? Why won't you tell mommy?"

"I can't, mom. He will hurt you."

Liz's heart skipped a bit. Who will hurt me? Who had talked to her daughter? She tried her best to look calm as she asked Maya.

"Who will hurt me, Maya? What are you talking about?"

"The man." The girl looked down again, and whispered. "the man from the supermarket. He talked to me at the park today."

Liz struggled to remember the man who had approached them at the soup shelves a few days ago. He seemed friendly, but had something of suspicious in him. What was his name, again? Was he one working for…?

"What did he say to you, honey?" She wasn't being very careful anymore, as her heart accelerated and she started to shiver. "Tell me, Maya. What did he do to you?"

"He just said that I had to ask dad to teach me to throw. And that I couldn't tell you or he would kill you!" the girl started to cry, and Liz couldn't avoid the tears from coming from her eyes either. She hugged her daughter tightly, and wondered what they wanted with that. That's when she realized.

"Maya, go to your room, ok sweetie? Stay away from the window. Go play in your iPad, right? Mommy will be right there. it will be okay. You did well telling me. Don't worry, nothing will happen to us."

The girl ran to her room and Liz walked slowly up the stairs, feeling breathless, wondering what they might have wanted by telling Maya to do that. How could they know?

Donald dug through his closed to find his old baseball and gloves, but couldn't find anything. It had been years since he last saw them. He wasn't very fond of baseball, being more of a football man. He wondered where Maya took this sudden interest in the sport. And also thought of his own experience playing throw with his old man, when he was a kid. He wasn't very good at it, and smirked at the thought of being totally useless while trying to help his little girl.

He picked up a chair to look up the top shelves in the wardrobe but couldn't find anything but old Halloween costumes and Christmas decorations. To be sure, he decided looking on the shelves on Liz's side. Behind all the old clothes and trinkets he found and old and battered box, abandoned in the back that called his attention. He didn't remember that box at all. His curiosity took the best of him, and he wanted to see what was inside. He had a hard time trying to retrieve it, and then he picked it up and lay it on the bed. He cut the strings that were around it and then took the lid off. What he saw inside took the breath out of him.

She entered the room to catch him ruffling through her old pictures, the box she had hid aside scattered all over her bed. Her heart skipped a beat as he turned to face her, holding her old pictures and documents, tears rolling down his face.

"Don... Donald... How? Where...?"

"What is this?"

She was running out of breath, clutching to her heart as she entered the room and tried to reach him, but he stepped away. She couldn't speak a word.

"Tell me! What is this?" He raised his voice at the end of the sentence, startling her. Tears were coming out of her eyes, as she got more and more desperate. He was crumping the picture in his grasp. "Who is this?"

"It's... It's me" her confession came out on a sob, and she covered her mouth with both her hands as if to hold her secret in there. She was sobbing uncontrollably now as he got a piece of paper from the bed, her birth certificate.

Masha Ivanovna Rostova, is that you?" He said, pointing at the name he had been hunting for weeks now.

She was short of breath, sobbing, reaching for him but being smart enough not to try and touch him.

"Can you please explain why you kept this from me? Why am I seeing here that the Russian assassin I have been hunting for weeks is right here under my roof?"

Her face changed from pain to surprise when he said that. "You...are...hunting? what? Assassin? Why are you hunting me? I've done nothing!"

"you? I'm hunting a Russian assassin that has been hidden in the USA! Not my wife! You've lied to me! Ever since we met!"

"You've lied to me, too!" She tried to bring back the fact that he told her he had stopped working in the field, but she knew that was too little to compare.

"It doesn't really matter, Liz, due to the fact that lying about becoming and analyst and leaving the field does not compare to a whole different identity!" he was screaming now, like he never had screamed at her before. She could see so many emotions on his face it was making her sick. Her vision was becoming blurry and she was losing her breath.

"Please, Don, let me explain. I can..." and she lost consciousness, falling on his feet motionless. He had a mix of despair at seeing the woman he loved lying there unconscious and hurt by the reason she fainted. He let go of the paper and the picture, reached down to her, checked her pulse and then pulled his cellphone to call an ambulance.

Then he sat on the floor and pulled her up to be on his lap, trying to wake her up. His hand was shaking, his head was a mess of information, and he could see on top of the bed from where he was the photos that had been hidden so deep in her closet. He wondered why she had lied, and why now they were hunting her as an assassin. What had she been doing behind his back? No, not his Liz. She had been right there, being his wife, the mother of his daughter, 1/3 of his perfect family. She wasn't an assassin. She wasn't dangerous and unpredictable, as Meera Malik had defined her. He was a profiler, and he knew exactly who she was. He wasn't just going to accept that the woman that he loved so much had lied this much to him.

The paramedics arrived a few minutes later and they asked him to leave them as they examined her. He stood up and collected the photos and documents from the bed, putting them back into the box that he would have to take in to the FBI. It was his job, and he couldn't just hide it from them. When the paramedics took her away, one of them came back into the room to ask if he wanted to go with them in the ambulance. He said he had to do something and would follow in his car.

The man left and he finally crumbled, kneeling beside the bed, head hidden on his arm resting on the silk duvet. He was crying like a baby, confused, scared and helpless. He looked up to the room they had shared for 8 years and remembered every single moment, good or bad, that they had lived there. Not even the ugliest fight could compare to that moment, not even the most passionate night could erase his doubts. He just didn't know what to do, and who he was. He took a deep breath, stood up, and cluching the box next to his chest, dialed the number that reached his boss.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N - after a lot of emotions, let's calm down, okay? I just couldn't keep these two apart for long. Let me know what you think! thanks for the reviews!**

* * *

"Harold Cooper"

"I've found Masha Rostova" Donald said it bluntly, and Cooper took a few seconds to understand who it was and what was going on.

"Ressler? What do you mean? Where are you?"

"I've found her. Meet me at the hospital, I'll explain"

"Hospital? Donald, what's going on?"

An extreme urge to cry took over Donald again, so he quickly turned off his phone before he ended up crying to his boss. He rested the box on the bed and took a deep breath when a soft voice called his attention.

"Daddy?"

With all that happened, he actually forgot about Maya. Maybe he didn't want to deal with the fact that he will have to explain what he doesn't understand to a 6 year-old. He tried poorly to dry the tears that were still falling and turned to her with a smile that was meant to seem comforting, but also came out painful.

"Daddy, where's mommy? What happened?" the girl looked confused and scared, and he had no idea how to start explaining all of this to her.

"Is it because I told her?" the girl came with this puzzling statement, and Donald stopped for a minute.

"What do you mean, kiddo?" He sat on the bed, pushing the box aside and opening space for the girl to sit beside him. She immediately started to cry.

"The man at the park. He told me not to tell. I told her, and now she's dead! It's my fault"

Donald didn't know what terrified him the most – the idea that a strange man threatened his little girl at her place of fun, or that this meeting now made her think she was responsible for anything. He put his arms around his daughter and brought her closer.

"Honey, you're not guilty of anything, ok? Mom and dad had a fight, and she felt indisposed. She just went to the hospital. We're going there to check up on her. All will be ok. Now." And he turned her to face him, making sure the girl saw that there was no reason to be afraid. "Tell me what happened at the park."

"No!" the girl screamed, and then covered her face with her tiny hands "They will hurt you too!"

"Maya, sweetie, listen to me. Nothing bad will happen to us, but I need you to tell me what happened. Whoever this man was, he's dangerous. Daddy is in the FBI, remember? I'll ask my friends to protect us."

"You promise?" and the girl offered her pinky finger, something she always did when there was a promise involved. Donald smiled within his sadness and envolved the girl's finger with his own. "yes, I promise."

The girl then told him all that happened, from the moment they encountered this man at the supermarket to the strange way he approached her at the park, saying that he had talked to Liz before. Donald wondered if it was a lie or if this man was part of her cover. No! he dreaded the fact that for a few seconds he considers Liz is actually an assassin undercover. She would never do anything to hurt Maya. This man were trying to reach them. What made him think.

He opened his phone and searched for a moment, and then turned the screen to the girl. "Maya, was it this man that talked to you?"

"Yes! That's him!" Maya pointed to the face coming from her father's phone, a snapshot of Tom Keen. This hit Donald's stomach hard, but it made sense. They knew Tom Keen and Berlin were looking for Masha Rostova, and they had reached her. He wondered what could've happened if he hadn't found the box. They would come even closer to his family and he wouldn't even know until it was too late, probably. So now he was determined to understand why Liz had lied to him, and what was the bloody truth, once and for all.

He took Maya to the neighbour's and had to struggle the girl's urge to go with him, crying and refusing to let him go. After a few minutes, he convinced her that it was best if she went to visit her mother the next day, when she would be feeling better. He just hoped it was true.

On the way to the hospital, he pondered all the things that could've caused Liz to faint at that moment. She was too nervous, too desperate because he found out about her; she realized her cover had been blown and this was a way to be extracted. He would only know when he got to the hospital.

He parked in front of the building and entered, going straight to the reception desk. "Elizabeth Ressler? I'm her husband." and the nurse pointed to a room on the second floor. He turned to the elevators and found Harold cooper sitting at the waiting room.

"Ressler, what's going on?" the man asked, and he immediately gave him the box. Harold opened and couldn't believe what he saw. He opened the birth certificate and understood.

"Masha Rostova. Is she…?"

"Yes, she is." They understood that they were both talking about Liz. "and why are we in a hospital?"

"She came into the room and saw that I had found the photos, and then fainted. I don't know what happened yet. I'm a bit scared, Cooper." He confessed to his boss, who put a hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him.

"Give her the benefit of the doubt, Donald. For 8 years you were the happiest a man can be. We all see that, it's clear. There's no reason to go straight to the bad conclusions. And we both know there's a lot to this story that is unclear. Go upstairs, see to your wife. And then give her time and a chance to explain. You both deserve this."

Cooper actually said what Donald wanted to hear. He wanted so much to give Liz a chance to explain, and deep in his heart he believed she had a good explanation for all this, and nothing would have to change. All he wanted was someone to agree with him, and he feared most of all that people would consider him naïve to want to believe in her innocence. He thanked the Assistant Director and went to the elevators. A second later, he went back to his boss.

"Wait, there's more. Tom Keen has approached Liz. And Maya. That son of a bitch threatened my daughter. He manipulated her to make me find the box. I don't know what else he knows, but he's lurking around my house."

Howard looked concerned, and pulled his cellphone from his pocket. "Don't worry, I'll send a unit to watch over Maya and investigate the neighborhood. Now go see your wife."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

He entered the room and Liz was already woken up. She froze when she saw him, and their eyes met in what was the most painful moment of their lives. On one hand, he wanted to rush to her, console her and be the one to ease the pain, but on the other hand, he was the cause of that pain, as she was the cause of his, and that was the most confusing part. The doctor greeted him into the room and asked to talk to him outside.

"Hello, Mr. Ressler. I'm Doctor Antony Maldonado, I examined your wife when she arrived."

"Is everything okay, Doctor?"

"yes, she had an episode, her blood pressure dropped. She told me she was in a bit of stress because of work, and got scared when an accident in the kitchen happened. Is that right?"

Donald nodded, not really knowing whatever story she had created. He decided to let the doctor continue, and would just agree with everything. "The fire came out of the oven and the scare was too much for her."

"yes, the oven. It's all controlled now, but she fainted. It was the scare, then?" it was him finding the pictures, not a way to get extracted. It was real.

"Yes, high levels of stress, specially in her conditions, will cause unconsciousness.

"I'm sorry. Condition?"

The doctor gave a silly smirk, believing himself to be the bearer of good news. "Your wife is pregnant, Mr. Ressler, congratulations."

That hit Donald hard in the gut. He didn't know if he was happy or terrified at the idea of a baby coming into their lives at this moment. He couldn't hold a smile, though. Under normal circumstances, that would be the happiest of news.

"Thanks a lot, Doctor. Can I be with her now?"

"Sure! I'll come back later in my rounds." And the doctor left him behind. Donald took a few seconds holding the door handle, thinking about this situation. He turned it and opened the door to find Liz looking calm, probably an effect of the medication she was taking. She smiled at him, and reached out. He wanted to hold her hand, but kept himself far, which she understood by lowering her hand.

"Did the doctor tell you?" she asked, looking at him.

"Yes," he said.

"so what now?"

"Now you tell me everything."

She took a deep breath, relieved. For a moment she thought she would never see him again. When the doctor told her she was pregnant, she felt a mix of happiness and extreme sadness, believing that she would have to deal with that alone, running away from the father of her child. She thought he would follow protocol and the first person she would see when she left the hospital would be a police officer to take her in. She knew that would happen, eventually, but the fact that he was there, sitting on the chair next to her bed, willing to listen to her, was a relief.

"My name is Masha Rostova, I was born in Moscow, Russia, to Ivan and Katerina Rostova. My father was a criminal, my mother was killed. When I turned 16, I learned the true nature of my father's business, and I was devastated. He had been a good father to me, and I never imagined he was a ruthless lord of crime. I went to university in St. Petersburg and when I turned 21, I decided to join the secret service of Russia to help my country fight criminals like my father. I was set up. My mother always told me that I should just go away, come to the United States or the United Kingdom, and be as far away as possible from my father. But I went against her and joined the SVR, or what I thought was the SVR. A man approached me while I was in college, promising me that the government was interested in minds like mine. I called him, and in a matter of weeks I was working as an analyst. The tests were easy, and I learned how to handle a gun really fast. After 2 years working in the office, I was promoted to field work. I was really excited to finally do something. It was 6 years of great experiences, when in a mission, I was hurt and locked away and I finally found out that the black site I was working, the one I thought was SVR, was actually my father's organization. I had been working for him for 6 years, fighting for the enemy I was trying to fight against. Eliminating his competition, dealing illegal partnerships for him, all of it. That was too much for me to handle. The end of it all was when, while still imprisioned, I learned that one of his associates had killed my mother."

"Associates? Do you know who it was?" Donald was paying close attention, and she felt glad for that.

"Raymond Reddington. That man took everything from me." There it is, her connection to Reddington. So she does have a different story. Now they only had to learn which one was correct. "He was the man that involved my father into crime when I was just a baby. My father was a KGB operative, not a criminal. Reddington involved him in this, and then got my mother killed. After I escaped, I tried to find him, but my father told me to stay away, or he would kill me. One day I received an anonymous help. Passport and money to start a life here in the USA. I took it."

"Anonymous? Did you ever find out who sent you this?"

"No. I always thought it had been my father, in a last action of mercy and love for me."

"When you came to the USA, you went to live in Queens, correct? What happened?"

"I entered the USA as Elizabeth Morgan, and decided to live in NY, as it had always been my dream. But 4 months after I was living there, and even had found a job waiting at a café, I had to leave."

"Why?"

"Reddington. He was following me, or at least one of his men. I kept seeing this strong black man everywhere I went. One day, he approached me and told me Mr. Reddington wanted to talk to me, set things straight. I ran the other way, and left NY."

"Where did you go? Was it then that you moved to DC?"

"No. I went to Nebraska, where I met a nice old man named Sam. He gave me a job taking care of him, but really I just kept his house clean, and he paid me too much for that. He was like a father to me, and we had a lot of fun. For 6 months he was my home."

"What changed?" Donald was really interested, and he was leaning forward in the chair, approaching her.

"You." She said, and he understood. When they met at the supermarket, she was visiting DC from Nebraska. When they had coffee that afternoon, she told him all of that. She was in DC with her father visiting the Museums and monuments. He said it was a pity that she didn't live there, and then after 2 weeks she moved to DC and they met again.

"I told Sam about you over and over the following week when we went back to Nebraska, and then one day he told me he had found me a job here in DC. 'Stop wasting your time with an old man and go after your life' he told me. I knew he meant you. I took the job and came to live here, and the rest of the story you know, you were there." their eyes met, and he saw that she was making a strong effort not to cry. He brought the chair closer to her bed and held her hand, what actually was the trigger for the tears to start falling. "When we got married, I called and found out Sam was dead. I wanted so much for him to be there. It was a bit of my life that I didn't have to hide from you. I'm so sorry, Donald, I never meant to lie to you, or deceive you. It's just that all that life ended, and was deemed to that box. It doesn't mean anything."

"It means something when your name comes as a suspect assassin on the FBI." He revealed. Inside his heart, there was nothing more to add to this story. He believed her, but he knew that they had to follow protocol if they wanted everybody else to believe her as well. "You'll have to go to the FBI, be questioned, it will take time, you will be arrested for a while."

"I know." She said. "But do you believe me?" he stood up from the chair and sat next to her on the bed, and then kissed her knuckles.

"Yes, I do." He meant it. and then he leaned forward and gave her a kiss.

"Thank you" she whispered, and kissed him again.

After a while they just stood there, lying on the bed together. She had her head resting on his chest, while he brushed his fingers around the bandage that covered the needle in her hand. She was about to sleep when someone entered the room, startling her. It was Harold Cooper, together with Samar Navabi and Aram Mojtabai. Donald stood up as Samar came closer and put a handcuff around Liz's free arm, connecting her to the side of the bed.

"I'm sorry, but we have to" said the woman, and Liz just nodded in understanding.

"We're sorry, Liz. But it's protocol." Said Aram, and she gave him a smile. "It's okay, Aram."

"We thought it would be best to start everything while she was in the hospital, even to protect her." Cooper said, and Donald noticed his boss seemed nervous.

"What happened, sir?" he asked, nervous. He reached for Liz's hand and came closer to the bed again, while she rested her head on his arm. Harold Cooper took a moment before saying anything.

"Meera Malik is dead" he said, to Donald's surprise. The others didn't seem surprised, which meant they already knew.

"We found the mole, as you said it." Samar was explaining. It was Diane Fowler, head of the department. Meera found out and received a shot in the head."

"which means that now Liz is in danger?" Donald asked, but Aram denied.

"technically, they don't know we've found Masha Rostova. We found out about Meera's death before Cooper came in with the information on Liz. We kept it quiet."

"What about Tom Keen? He's been in contact with her, he threatened my daughter!"

"We know that, Donald, but we don't know if Tom Keen is really working for Berlin."

"what do you mean?"

"Diane knows nothing of Tom Keen. If she is the mole working for Berlin, that says a lot."

"We believe Tom Keen is working for Reddington." Donald knocked over a cup of water from the table in front of him, startling everyone. A few seconds of awkwardness followed, and he apologized.

"Reddington?" Liz interfered, not knowing really if she could give her opinion, as these people were both protecting her and arresting her. "Are you looking for him too?"

"Reddington is actually working for us" said Samar, to Liz's bewilderment. "He surrendered himself to us and was helping us with intel, until he gave us your name. What happened is that he gave different information to us and to Cooper's team, probably because of Fowler's connection to Berlin. But apparently there is a lot more that he forgot to mention. He said Tom Keen was Berlin's man."

"wait." Liz moved to find a better position on her bed. "who is Berlin?"


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N - Sorry I took so long to update, guys. got excited with my other stories. Thanks again for reading. Please make sure to spend some seconds to review, they are very important!**

* * *

Knowing that the man who killed her father and took over his empire of crime was after her did not help her pregnancy sickness, and Liz had two uncomfortable days being questioned at the FBI. For these days she stayed in a hotel room surrounded by FBI agents, and didn't get to see either Donald or Maya. It was the end of the third day, she was sitting at the interrogation room after talking to Cooper and Samar Navabi, and was now waiting to know what was going to happen to her when Donald came into the room. She stood up and hugged him, then he sat her again on the chair.

"Is it over, Don? Do they believe me?" she asked, anxious. He looked serious and concerned, and she was starting to think something bad was going to happen to her. He raised his eyes to meet hers, and then opened a faint smile.

"You're free to go, Liz. I'm here to take you home." She smiled and hugged him again, barely containing her happiness and relief. As he took her out of the room and through the corridors of his place of work, she felt as if a great weight had been lifted from her. She no longer needed to hide things from him, her real life and identity, she could finally live her life at peace. Until she remembered about Berlin and Tom Keen and Reddington, and her happiness started to fade away.

"What about now, Don? What about these people coming after me? How are we going to protect Maya?"

"Don't worry. We'll have FBI agents around the house daily and someone to take you and her to school and back home. I wish I could stay home, but I can't, I have to be part of the investigation, Liz."

"I know. I'm scared, Don".

He stopped and turned her to face him, cupping her face with his hands. "It will all be alright, Liz, I promise." He gave her a slight kiss on the lips, and then they turned to see Cooper approaching, bringing Maya with him.

The little girl lit up as she saw her mother, and ran to her, as Liz kneeled to take her daughter into her arms.

"Mommy! I missed you, mommy!"

"I'm okay, baby. I'm here."

"Mommy, what happened to you? Why did they take you to the hospital?" Liz looked over at Donald and knew that he hadn't told her about the baby. She took her daughter's hand in hers and gave it a little kiss.

"Well, honey, what happened was that mommy fainted, because she needs to eat more now."

"Won't you be fat if you eat too much, mom?

"Yes, I will" she chuckled at the girl's comment. "But it will be alright, you know, because here inside mommy's belly will grow a little sister or brother to you, and it will need the food" she placed the little girl's hand on her stomach, and the girl's eyes lit up as she understood the news.

"I'm gonna be a big sister?"

"yes, baby, you will!" Maya hugged her mom again. "I'm so happy mommy"

"me too, sugar." Donald knelled and took them both into his arms, and Cooper smiled at the lovely family moment. Aram rushed in and interrupted, noticing only when it was too late.

"He's here" he said, and then apologized for barging in. "The car is ready to take Liz and Maya home, too, Ress".

"Who's here?" Liz asked, and Don shook his head, signaling he couldn't say, but she had a feeling she knew.

"It's Reddington, isn't it?"

"Let's go, Liz. Agent Murphy will take you home and put you up to speed on the security protocols. Please stay home until I get there, ok? I won't take long"

She looked at him disappointed because he wouldn't tell her, but she knew he couldn't. She looked at the war room, observing each desk, and person, and looking to see if she could find any hint that she was right. As she noticed a man in a fedora hat inside a small room across from her', she breathed in and turned to the elevator.

Xxxxxxxxx

Donald entered the room and looked at the man in front of him, wondering how it was to be him. Always looking so nonchalant, so sure of himself. He wondered if the man had any feelings at all.

"We found Masha Rostova" he revealed, and Reddington raised an eyebrow. "But I believe you already knew who she was, didn't you, Reddington?"

In her questioning Liz revealed that she received a call from Reddington, and that's why she changed the number. She also revealed that for great part of her life, she noticed a tall dark man observing her, not to mention the fact that Tom Keen had reached to her, and they had suspicions that he was working for Reddington.

"you had to find it yourself, Donald. I wasn't in a position to reveal her secret to you."

"So you put a man to threaten my daughter to make me find it out?" He said it, his tone of voice a bit altered, but he was surprised when the look on the man's face changed to a serious and concerned one.

"How's Maya? Is she okay?"

"What's your relationship with my wife, Reddington? What are you to Masha Rostova?"

"I swear to you, Donald, I had nothing to do with it. If Tom Keen approached Maya and threatened her, it was Berlin's doing."

"We found the mole, too, and she knows nothing of Tom Keen."

"Of course not. Tom Keen isn't one of Berlin's goons, or works with his contacts. Tom Keen is his personal man, something like what Dembe is to me. I'm sure Masha mentioned seeing Dembe around in her life, because if I put someone to observe her, and your family, is Dembe. With strict orders to observe and protect if anything bad happens. I'm sorry, it seems he wasn't there when Maya was contacted by Tom Keen, or else he would've done something about it, I promise you".

"You can keep your promises to yourself, Reddington, and also your man. The FBI will have total coverage of their protection from now on, do you hear me?"

Reddington sat back on his chair and raised his palms to indicate he understood, but not necessarily agreed. Donald sat on the chair across from him and questioned again.

"What's your relationship to Masha Rostova?"

"Once upon a time, Donald, and I ask you here to be patient as I will tell you a long story. Once upon a time there was a beautiful woman named Katerina Rostova. She was gorgeous and brought life and light wherever she went. I was lucky to have met her in Moscow, in one of my business there. We had a delightful conversation over coffee, and I was impressed by her intelligence and grace. It was then that I knew of her husband, Ivan, a ruthless man leader of the crime in Russia. As my objective while in Moscow was to tighten my relations to the important men there, I reached out to him, only to find out that he was a pitiful man who didn't deserve either his power nor his family. I got closer to Katerina and discovered he beat her and cheated on her, and it didn't take long for the light to start to fade from her. Two years after we met I came back to Moscow and found her in an alley, barely alive. I took her to a hospital and then helped her to hide from Ivan. We ended up getting emotionally attached, and became lovers. In one of those nights, Katerina got pregnant. I made a huge mistake by allowing her to go back to her husband instead of taking her with me back to the USA after we had a fight. She hadn't told me about the pregnancy then, and decided to give Ivan another chance. A few months later I found out she had a baby girl, and I did the math. I knew the girl was mine."

Donald opened his mouth slightly to gasp for air as the information hit him. Liz was Reddington's daughter. The man continued.

"I tried to contact Katerina, but she didn't want to see me. That's when I started observing Masha from afar. I tried reaching out to Ivan, pretending I was interested in his business, and the man took my advice and investments for some time, but I didn't stand long. His methods were too much even for me. I stayed away after Katerina found out I was working with Ivan, and told me to back off. For 10 years I stayed away. But then I found out that Masha had entered one of Ivan's fake SVR facilities, and got worried. She truly believed to be working for the good guys, and it didn't take long for him to use that and put her after me. She hunted me for 2 years, investigating my actions, following leads to find me. For a while I facilitated her search, I wanted her to get to me, but then she was taken by Ivan's men, saying that they worked for me. It was an elaborate scam, he made her believe that I was attacking her. Katerina found out what he was doing and went after me. Because of all that for one night I had her back to me, but Ivan found out and killed her, claiming me as guilty to Masha. I understood her rage, but also fought back by making her find out about the reality of her work, who she was really working for. I knew that I couldn't approach her, she would never believe me then, she trusted Ivan as her father, so I just observed her reactions after she knew the truth, and then send her documents anonymously so she could start a new life. Once she was settled in NY I wanted to reach out to her, but she was afraid of me, and ran away. That's when I decided to go back to observing her from far away, knowing now that she was safe. I knew about the old man, Sam, that took her in in Nebraska and I found out about you. It was I who helped Sam find her a job in DC and come back to you, Donald."

Donald didn't know if the man was expecting a thank you, but he looked at him with stern eyes. He could feel the pain and truth in Reddington's voice as he detailed every step of his long journey observing Liz and following her as she made her way from Russia to Washington, from being Masha Rostova, SVR agent to Elizabeth Ressler, his wife. It was all a turmoil of information and he wasn't really sure what to do. He left the room after Reddington was through and met Harold Cooper outside, who had been observing the entire interview from the adjoined room.

"What know, sir?" he asked, visibly disturbed.

"Now we investigate more to find Berlin. We are going to stop this, and save Liz, Ressler."

"I think she needs to know the truth about Reddington, sir" he knew everything the man had said in the room was going to be classified, and it pained him to know all of that and not being able to tell her. Cooper knew that too.

"It's down to Reddington to tell her or not. I believe you will know what is okay to tell her, but I recommend talking to him first about her knowing. We can't take this from him."

Donald nodded in agreement, as he came back into the room and asked this question to the criminal.

"She won't talk to me, Donald. I don't know how she will react to the truth. But I guess it will be better if you tell her. She trusts and loves you, what I will never be able to talk about me. I will make myself available on this number, if she ever wants to talk. Please, give it to her." Reddington gave him a card and then stood up to leave the room. "I'm sure you have enough from me. If you don't mind, I'll excuse myself." And he left, not waiting to see if more was needed from him from the FBI agents.

Donald spent some time looking at the card, which only contained one number, and said "Nick's pizza", wondering if he would really keep it, or throw it away. He wanted so badly to go back to a normal life, one where his wife is only his wife, and they have no relations whatsoever with Raymond Reddington. He had no idea how Liz would react to being his daughter. On one hand, maybe not being Ivan Rostova's real daughter would bring her some kind of relief, but the option was not one of the good ones. He decided to keep the card, stuffing it inside his wallet before leaving the interrogation room and going back to where Aram was sharing new information.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N - ok, taking a wild turn here, but I think this will help me finish the story soon. about 1 or two more chapters. thanks for reading!**

* * *

"They made me. Now what?" He was inside an ugly and dirty bar, with a few low-life people and sad souls who spend the afternoon drinking too much. Tom was angry at the silence coming from the other side of the line, gathering up a lot of wrong doings he was forced to accept in this case. He wanted out. He wanted to change this. It was wrong enough to threaten a kid, he doesn't do that. He heard breathing, and screamed for an answer.

"What am I supposed to do now, hun? Wait for the FBI to take me?"

A stern and calm voice came on his ears, and he hated it.

"Watch your tone, Tom. You know I don't like screaming." The man had an accent, but Tom was already used to it, so he could understand it all. "Now you sit and wait for my orders, as you always do."

"What am I to you, your dog?" Tom was fed up with all that, for 5 years he had worked for this man, expecting some kind of reward, proof of trust, but it was all a lie. He was his little pawn, and was sick and tired of it. He had a good career, he was a good con man, and now he was killing people, and threatening 6-year olds.

"Don't worry, puppy. Sit down, have a drink. I'll contact you soon." The man hung up and Tom stood there listening to the tone while his mind rumbled. "Enough" he said, and stormed out of the bar.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

Donald came home and was welcomed with a hug from Maya, while Liz came from the kitchen wearing an apron, and for a second it all seemed like the end of a regular day. If only his little girl wasn't hugging him with fear, and he couldn't easily recognize the lines of concern in his wife's face. He reached his arm to call for her, and when she approached he pulled her in and gave her a long kiss. It had been too long since their last kiss. Maya left them and went to the living room, and they adjusted to hold each other, looking into each other's eyes, and he put his hand down to caress her belly. She closed her eyes, welcoming the touch.

"we didn't even celebrate it" she said, with a faint smile.

"Well, we have time"

"Are you sure it's the right time? I mean, bring a kid into this mess?" He kissed her to silence her doubts, and felt a tear leave her eyes and hit him in the cheek.

"We'll manage it. We can do it," he whispered, and she kissed him again, holding him closer until they heard a sound of disgust from the living room.

"Ew. Stop it!" Maya said, and the three of them laughed as they parted, and he went upstairs to change while she went back to the kitchen, stopping at the living room to kiss her daughter on the head.

They spend the rest of the night trying to have a normal family night, avoiding to mention anything that had happened in the last few days. Maya chose "Inside out" to watch after dinner again, and they sat cuddling together throughout the film. When it was over, the girl was sleeping, clutching to her doll. Donald picked her up and took her to her room, and then went to his room to find Liz already tucked in under the covers, wearing a silk baby-doll.

"What is that?" he pointed, as he was used to her sleeping in cotton t-shirts and pantsuits.

"I don't know. I had the feeling I had to seduce you" He laughed, but understood the woman's concerns. She was wincing to the fabric on her, clearly uncomfortable in those clothes. He slid under the covers and turned to her, kissing her and quickly removing the top.

"You hate those. I hate those. There, feeling better?" She chuckled as he looked at her with her bare chest, then reached out to cup her breasts.

"I thought it would never be the same, now that you know about my past." She breathed in as he came closer and kissed her neck, welcoming the touch. He sucked her skin gently, making her hiss.

"I can't say it's not strange, and scary. I love you, Liz, I love the woman you are today. I believe that you abandoned whatever you did back then, and that's enough for me. Whatever else we need to understand, we'll understand together.

She cupped his face with her hands and draw it in for a kiss, and then kissed the freckles on his face as he moved to lay on top of her. He then takes her face between his hands and kisses her passionately, and she drags her nails on his back under his shirt, fighting to take it off. She moans and gasps for air as he goes under the sheets.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Tom let out a sarcastic laugh as he observed the front door of the Ressler's that morning. He saw Donald going to work with a silly grin as he kissed Liz goodbye, as she could barely let him go and then leaned against the porch drinking her coffee observing him as he went. Whatever Berlin expected to happen with his plan, clearly did not work.

He observed as she went back inside and then looked around to find the FBI agents who would be obviously watching her house. He got out of the car, adjusted the cap on his head and put on sunglasses, and then went straight to her door.

When she opened she immediately recognized him and tried to close the door, which he stopped with his foot.

"Go away! We have surveillance around!" she threatened, but he did not flinch.

"I know. That's why you are going to call them and say I'm just a neighbor coming to borrow some tools"

"and why would I do that?"

"Because I can help you with Berlin". She stopped trying to close the door, and it flung open as he pushed it and entered the house, closing it behind him. The phone rang immediately, and she picked it up and heard Agent Murphy's house.

"Ma'm, is everything all right?"

"yes, it is" she said, eyes fixed on the man who was now removing his disguise in front of her. "It's just Thomas, hun… my neighbor, he borrow's Don's tools sometimes. It's fine."

The man on the other side of the line did not buy her story. "Ma'm, do you need us to go in?"

"No," she said, and immediately regretted it, but she had to know.

"Would you like us to alert your husband?" she stopped for a minute. Don would come running, as he would not recognize any neighbor Thomas who borrows his tools. It would be something to rely on.

"Yes, please." She whispered, and then hung up. "you've got 15 minutes, tops, before my husband appears with the FBI. Start talking."

Tom Keen shrugged, impressed, and started to wander around the house. She went after him, nervous, as he sat on the couch and made himself comfortable.

"You have a nice house" he said, grinning.

"You have a nerve." She answered, keeping her distance, looking at the dresser behind the couch where she knew there was a hidden gun there. She and Donald agreed to some hidden spots for guns, specially now that she could use her former training. She moved towards it, preparing to grab it at any moment.

"Why should I believe that you want to help us with Berlin?"

The man let out a long sigh, and it seemed as if he was upset. "Look, I've tried, but he doesn't care. Besides, making me do what I did with your daughter was too much. I'm done."

He really seemed to regret threatening Maya, so she decided to give him a chance.

"What do you want to tell us, anyway?"

"You're looking for the wrong guy. Or at least you doing it wrong if you are looking for a crime lord called Berlin. He doesn't exist."

"What do you mean? He took over my fath…Ivan Rostova's business in Russia, they all know him"

"That's where you get it wrong, sweetie" he scorned, and she took a deep breath. "Berlin did not kill Ivan Rostova. He is Rostova."

Liz couldn't hold a loud sigh as she breathed in with the surprise of the information. So her father was alive? Why did he create this new identity? Why fake his death? And why is he after her now?

"I know your questions, and I have answers to all of them. We just need to adjust to an agreement." He said, as Donald stormed into the house, pointing a gun at the man sitting on his couch."

"Stop! Raise your arms! Now!"

Tom Keen slowly raised his arms, smiling, looking at Liz. She stopped Donald. "Don, it's alright. We need him".

"what do you mean?" Donald said, surprised, gun still pointing at Tom.

"He's got information on Berlin. And my father."

"Well, I wouldn't call him your father, Masha." Tom said, and Donald immediately knew what he meant. They never got to the conversation where he would share that Reddington is her real father. He didn't want to stop their family moment or their reconciliation later with all that. As he observed the strange man grinning in his house, he knew that might have been a mistake.

"I'm going to put my hands down, if you don't mind, Donnie. I suggest you do the same with the gun."

"What do you mean?" Liz asked, pressing Donald's arm down so he would put down the gun. He complied, unwillingly.

"Ivan Rostova isn't your father. Oh, you didn't tell her, Don?" She turned to Don, who was with his eyes closed.

"It's Reddington. He's your father, Liz. He told me yesterday." She opened her mouth to complain, but he stopped her. "We didn't get to a moment for this conversation! I didn't know if you wanted to talk about it. I was going to get there some time".

"Reddington? He killed my mother! He destroyed my family"

"All lies Ivan told you, Liz. Reddington had an affair with your mother, but they had a fight and she went back to Ivan, when she found out she was pregnant with you. She told Ivan you were his, but Reddington always knew. When he learned you were working for Ivan, he tried to approach him, to get closer to you and pull you out."

"So, who killed my mother?"

"Berlin did. Or better yet, Ivan. Reddington was killing his reputation slowly and he was about to lose all business. Hell, Reddington even tipped him off to the Russian police. He was about to be taken down when he created Berlin, and created the event where your mother was killed, as if this Berlin was attacking his family. He said that you had disappeared when you were captured. It was your father's doing, all along. He just didn't expect you to find out the truth about his business, and the fact that you were working for the wrong side. After that, Reddington made sure you found a way out as he confronted Ivan, and got pretty beaten up after that. Ivan nearly killed Reddington, and used his disappearance to kill Ivan Rostova and come back as Berlin."

All those revelations were driving Liz mad. She sat down on the chair, helped by Donald, holding her belly as she felt breathless. She feared she was going to faint again, but took a deep breath, drank a cup of water one of the FBI agents who entered the house with Donald brought to her, and signaled for Tom to continue.

"What's your connection to all that? Why help us?"

"You may not be Ivan Rostova's real daughter, but he had a progeny. He had a son. You may remember one of your old pictures in that box of yours. A photo of you and your mother and Ivan and a boy."

"Yes. I know. It was Petr, my brother. He died".

"No, he didn't." Tom pointed at himself. "When I turned 10, you were 6 and dad sent me to a training facility, to prepare me to be a spy. He sent you there too, except that you don't remember it. The training takes 2 years, from when you're ten until you are 12, and then they erase your memories after you leave, leaving you as a sleeper agent until you grow up. You were never truly woken, as you got interested in the life of intelligence by yourself, but you have to agree that all the training of the agency was pretty easy, wasn't it? Well, when I was sent there, I wasn't very good, and dad thought I was too weak to continue. So he abandoned me there. His orders were to leave me out in the forest training, but my trainer took me in, and kept working with me until I learned. Because of this, my mind was never erased and I was never a sleeper agent. I became Tom Keen, con man, but then started to work some jobs as a mercenary to call his attention. I wanted him to see what I became, that he was wrong about me. He never recognized me. When I told him, he didn't even considered it truth. Now, he works me as his puppy, using the 'dad' card when he needs me to do something ugly for him, such as approach Maya. I didn't want to do that, Masha, I promise."

"Stop calling me that!" she said, revolving her mind to remember when she was a child, how she used to play with Petr, and worship her older brother, always protecting her, and how she cried for days when her mother said he was dead. It was hard to fathom the idea that he was alive, but after all she had lived, it wasn't difficult to imagine Ivan doing such a thing.

"Look, I'm not expecting to be godfather to your next child or anything, I just want you to get him. It's time he leave both of us alone."

Liz eyed him up and down and saw in his face the pain of years trying to impress his father until he finally learned that he was going to the wrong way. She observed as Donald approached to arrest him, and how the man dodged his hands.

"You can't arrest me! I can take you to him. I need to be inside."

"Yeah, sure, we'll trust you." scorned Donald, grabbing the man's hands again.

"Masha, tell him. You need me there. it's the only way. He'll vanish again."

"Well, if he vanishes, that would be actually a good thing" she said.

"He will vanish, but not before he kills you and your family. Please, you have to let me help."

"How can we know that this entire scene isn't his orders, too?" asked Donald, already clipping his cuffs on the man's hands behind his back.

"Ok, you know what? You can do whatever you want, you can put a chip on me, a tracker, whatever. If I go one step out of the line you put a bullet in my head. The last thing he wants is that she knows who he is. Who Reddington is to her. His worst nightmare is if she and Reddington joins forces. Now you know, and only you can evaluate the risk of things. If you want my advice, go to Reddington, and let me bring you Berlin. After that, I'll gladly go to jail.

Donald pondered the possibilities for a while, thinking that if that was anybody else, he would consider Tom's ideas. But it was Liz, and he couldn't force her to do that, or even to accept what Reddington was to her. He looked at her expecting her decision, which took a few minutes.

She walked up and down on the living room and then looked at the two men in front of her, trying to seem sure of what she was saying, but in reality, she was not. "Ok. Call Reddington. Let me talk to him. And let's use him to bring Berlin."

"Are you sure, babe?" Donald said, surprised. She waved his concern away. "We need to finish this, Don, and soon, before the baby comes. I'm through with it. If contacting Reddington and believing in this guy helps, then we'll do it."

He left the man kneeled on the carpet still handcuffed and went straight to hug her, as the other agents took over and secured Tom.

"What about me? I get out of here in cuffs and Berlin will know."

"Take him to the kitchen, we can interrogate him there. Liz you go upstairs, ok? Stay in our room. I'll call Red and set up a meeting, and then I'll meet you there"

The people in the room acted as Donald ordered, as he pulled out his phone and dialed the number on the card saying "Nick's pizza".

"She wants to see you" he said, as he heard the strong voice of Raymond Reddington say hello on the other end.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N - okay, I thought about giving this another chance, and I feel I could finish this in 1 or 2 more episodes, although inspiration is low here. I like this episode, but I feel it's weaker than the others. tell me what you think**.

* * *

It wasn't an easy conversation. It took 2 weeks for Liz to take the courage to really go. They met at a park, an open space so she would be easily watched. Don was with her, it was her demand. Reddington knew that.

"Hello, Lizzy" he said, a faint smile on his lips as she approached. It was a cold day, so she was wearing a thick coat, and her belly bump wasn't visible. She thought it was for the best. She was holding Don's hand and squeezed it a little as the man indicated the seat next to him.

"Sit there, honey." Don whispered to her, and she looked over her shoulder to him, his faint smile much more calming. She took a deep breath and then sat on the bench.

Reddington tried to reach her hand, but she dodged it. "No" she screamed, and then placed both her hands on Don's lap, away from him. Red sighed and then nodded in agreement.

"It's okay, Lizzy. I won't do anything you don't want me to."

She kept looking at him, quiet, her heart pounding inside her chest. Donald put his arm around her and brought her closer, comforting her and trying to encourage her to talk.

"Liz, honey, do you have any questions?"

She had a thousand, to start. All of this was so confusing she was starting to believe her previous life as a secret agent was just as normal as the life she had been having so far. She swallowed and then turned to the man she had always thought was her enemy.

"What happened? Between you and my mom?"

"Well, me and your mom met while she was going through some difficult times in her life and marriage, we met at a bar…" he started, but she interrupted with a wave of her hand.

"No. I want to know what happened that made you leave? Why did she go back to Ivan?"

Reddington understood. It was a much deeper and interesting question for her. Why leave a man who had helped her through and through and go back to the one who had destroyed her? It was hard for him to think about that day. The day that he had to tell Katerina that he was leaving her.

"It was Ivan. He threatened me. He learned about me and your mother when she returned to get her things. As you might know" and he looked at Donald, who nodded. "My romance with your mother didn't start until my second trip to Russia, when I found her nearly dying at an alley."

Liz took a deep breath, trying to think how much her mother must have suffered.

"Well, I helped her, she got better, and for months she just ignored Ivan, and he believed she was dead. The thing is, because of your brother, she felt she had to go back. She had to get Petr, because she knew what would happen to him if he stayed with Ivan. That's when she revealed she was alive."

Red stopped, and moved his hand to his face, what seemed like wiping a tear. Liz looked at him and squeezed Don's hands, looking for comfort. He put his arms around her, warming her against the wind.

"He wasn't happy. Not at all. She was really strong, Lizzy, you have to believe me. She stood up against him and demanded Petr, but he didn't accept it, threatening to kill the boy. She asked me to get the boy, kidnap him or something, and I came up with a plan, I took him while he was going to school. We lived together hidden for 2 weeks, and I was getting ready to get them back to the USA with me. I guess your mother was pregnant with you by then. That's when Rostova got to me, and he threatened me. He said I had to convince your mother she had to go back to him, that I didn't love her, or he would kill them."

"And you just accepted this threat? You sent my mother, my brother, and me back to that monster because of a threat? I thought you were stronger than this, Concierge of crime" her tone was cruel and cold and pierced through Red's heart. She was right, though, and that thought had hunt him all his life.

"I know that, Lizzy. I made a mistake, and I paid for this by losing her and you." He said, pain in his eyes. "I was weak and selfish, to be honest. I shouldn't have accepted it. Anyway, that's what I did, and that's why we're here. I took his threat and I had a fight with your mother. I told her that I couldn't take Petr, which wasn't really a lie. To take him legally, I would have to have Ivan's permission. She didn't accept it, she would never accept leaving her kid. So she stayed, and as she needed protection, she accepted his offer of a new life. And they had a new life, you know that, you were there. He was a good father to you, wasn't he?"

Liz thought about her childhood. She was kept away from all the mess, and yes, she had a good childhood. Her father was a good man for her, for all she knew.

"What about behind all that? When I wasn't looking? How can I believe that he treated her right when I know what he did to Petr? What he did to her later?"

"Petr? You know about him, then." Reddington knew about Tom Keen being Petr, but never imagined the boy would defect his father, after years of trying to impress him. "Has he contacted you?"

"He's under custody, he's willing to help. I guess his relationship with Berlin wasn't as good as he hoped" Donald said, his only contribution to the conversation so far, besides comforting Liz.

"Figured. Have you interrogated him? Are you sure of his intentions?" Donald nodded, and Reddington sighed, relieved.

"I tried getting to Petr, Lizzy, as soon as I learned he had survived the training camp. You were in that place then, and I really wanted to get you out then. I couldn't. Ivan was on to me. All I could do was wait for you to grow up, and then figure things out yourself. The problem was that when you knew the truth, you fell into another lie. I couldn't get to you while you believed to be a secret agent. You would never listen to me. So I got to you when you found out the truth. But by then Ivan had already told you all those lies about me, his last act before letting you go completely. He killed your mother and told you it had been me. I tried to stop him, but your mother didn't believe me. All I could do was act from the shadows. That's when I sent you the passport and tickets to the US. To give you a new chance."

"You sent them?" Liz said, surprised. "I always thought it had been my father."

"It was. Technically" Red chuckled, and then became serious again as she didn't react.

"Then you tried to talk to me in NY, but I ran from you."

"Exactly. I learned then that you would never trust me, so I just observed you. I saw you meet Sam, and I saw you meet Don. I got you that job in DC to stay with him. He's a good man, Lizzy, and I'm glad he makes you happy." She looked at Don, and when their eyes met they smiled at each other, then he kissed her forehead.

"Why come back to me now?" She asked. "Why give my name for the FBI to hunt?"

"Your name would have come up to them nevertheless. But as the assassin Berlin and his associates were trying to paint you. They would've broken into your house and taken you in by force if I hadn't interfered and given you the benefit of the doubt, and involved Donald. I knew Berlin would do something to make him find out about you, and he thought he would give you away immediately. I'm glad his plan failed." He looked at Don, who knew it was a possibility. When it came to rules and work, he was a boyscout. The fact that he decided to listen to Liz before handing her in had a lot to do with the fact that Reddington said she was the victim first.

"What now?" She asked, moving to get closer to Don, and place her head on his shoulder. She was tired, and wanted to go home.

"Now we have an advantage. We have each other, and we have Petr, inside. We can come up with a plan, my men and the FBI and Petr's actions inside to embush Rostova, and stop him. I'm just sorry you won't be able to act, I know how good you are" he said, and smiled, and she knew the winter clothes didn't fool him. He knew she was pregnant. "I'm so happy about it, Lizzy. You are a great mother."

She felt her heart flutter as he smiled, openly. She was so torn about all this, and deep inside saw no chance of ever giving him space in her life, but now, after knowing everything, she felt glad.

"Thank you" she said, meaning the compliment, and everything else. He knew, and just nodded. She stood up, Donald by her side, and got his hand to take her out of there.

"Just one more thing" She said, turning around in Donald's arms. "Why do you call me Lizzy? That was the name I took when I moved here. Why not call me Masha?"

"I gave you this name, Elizabeth. It was on the passport, remember? This is the name me and your mother wanted to give you. Or our imaginary daughter, to be clear. One night we started talking about it and she said that if we ever ran away together and had a baby, she would want an American name for this baby. I told her I always loved Elizabeth, and she agreed. I bet she called you Lizzy some times, didn't she?"

Liz stopped to think, trying to recall the few memories she had with her mother. She remembered intimate moments, only her and her mom, and in those moments, she would really call her Liz.

She nodded, signaling that she remembered. And then turned away.

xxx-xxxxxx-xxxxx

it was hard going to sleep that night. She had that whole conversation and the face of her real father fixed inside her mind. It was late at night when she rolled over on the bed, giving up. She stared at the ceiling, watching as the light of the street made figures on the plaster, the shadows of the curtains dancing and the wind howling outside. She remembered when she used to do this with her mother, lying on her big bed in the middle of the night, and she would sing lullabies in Russian to put her to sleep, but then she would sing along to them and they both laughed. She felt sobs coming to her chest and she couldn't hold them inside. All the memories she had tried so hard to forget coming strong as a whirlwind, and she felt the tears coming to her eyes and falling to her cheeks without asking for permission.

She let out a loud sob, and then covered her mouth as she noticed Donald moving next to her.

"Liz?" he said, sleepy, but she wasn't strong enough to pretend she wasn't crying. He realized she was and held her close, pulling her to lay her head on his chest.

"It's okay, baby. Shh, it's okay." She held him, and cried all her sorrows away. He held her head and stroke his fingers on her hair, as she gripped his arms tightly, pulling then to hold her, and if he could he would bring her closer. A few minutes later she calmed down, and then fell asleep out of the exhaustion of crying. He held her until he fell asleep himself.

The morning came and woke them up with the sun entering the open window. He woke up first and noticed she still held his arm tightly, so he couldn't move. He didn't want to, either, so he just kissed her head and stroke it until she also woke up.

"How are you feeling?" he asked as she slowly opened her eyes. She sighed deeply, and then snuggled into him.

"I'm okay" her voice muffled by his chest, and he laughed at her, seeking cuddling like a child. To have her like that on his arms warmed his heart.

"It's going to be okay, Liz. Today we'll meet with Reddington and have a plan. It will be over soon." She moved her head so she could look at him. Her face showed how scared she was.

"I'm scared, Donald. I'm scared of all this. I'm scared for you. I don't want you to go. What if something happens? Why can't we just go, hun? What if we got our stuff; got Maya and just went away, anywhere. Let's go to Canada, or Alaska. Anywhere."

"Do you really want to keep running all your life?" he said, a little harsher than he meant. She felt like crying again. "Liz, I understand, but we can finish this, and be in peace forever."

"He already blew up a car trying to kill you, Don. What if he does something else? You'll be his first target, I know it." He opened up a smug smile.

"Oh, I feel glad to be this important, you know."

"Don't do this to me, Donald! Don't play the brave man, not like this," she said, mad, and he smirked as he brought her closer.

"You know, you only call me Donald in two situations." She laughed.

"When I'm mad at you! Like now!"

"Or when we're…you know." He kissed her earlobe, and she laughed aloud.

"I'm mad at you, Donald Ressler. I'm mad and I'm scared and I'll never let you go!" she said, and held him closer. He could barely move, and there was no better situation in the world.

"Mommy? Daddy?" her high-pitched voice came from the door, and they both looked at it to find their little girl rubbing her fist on her eye, confused with sleep. She moved slowly and climbed onto their bed.

"We're holding daddy here, Maya. Help me!" the girl woke up immediately as she giggled and put her arms around Donald's neck from behind, her tiny legs enveloping his waist. He laughed as the two women of his life held him tightly, his hand trying to grab Maya to bring her to between him and Liz. They were all laughing when his phone rang. Silence ensued as they heard the ringtone go off again. He looked at Liz, and knew what it was. It was time for him to go to the FBI. He moved to grab the phone on the bedside table, as Maya jumped on his chest, trying to stop him.

"No, daddy! You won't go!" Liz took her from him and held her close, as he talked to Aram and set that he would be there in 1 hour.

"What's the matter, mommy? Is everything going to be okay?"

"Yes, baby. Everything will be okay."

Donald moved over and leaned to kiss Maya on the top of her head, which was leaning on Liz's shoulder. Then he kissed Liz deeply on the lips, and lastly put his hand on her baby bump.

"I'll be right back" he said, and breathed deeply, wishing it was true as he moved away from the bed and into the bathroom.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When he got to the war room, they were already discussing a plan. Raymond Reddington was there, and so was Tom Keen, aka Petr Rostova. He had a tracker on his feet, and was leaning on a desk with blue prints, explaining how to get into Rostova's facility.

"Ah, good morning, Donald" Reddington welcomed him, and he frowned. The last thing he wanted was the man to treat him all perky like a lovely father in law. Reddington shrugged his attitude and went back to the blue prints. His man, Dembe, was paying attention, something like memorizing the maps.

"What did I miss?" Donald asked, coming next to Aram to see what they were looking at.

"Not much, Ress. Petr here was showing us how to get into the facility, but I think this is basically the last part of the plan.

"And do we have a first?" Don asked, looking at the people around the table. Petr was the one to answer.

"I'll go in, together with Agent Navabi here, I'll be taking her in as a new mercenary, and we'll see if Berlin takes the bait. The idea is that he takes her in, so you have another 'man' on the inside."

"And do you think he will?" he asked, and Petr smirked.

"Oh, yeah, definitely. My dear father loves a strong looking woman. No offense" he turned to Samar, who shrugged.

"As long as he keeps his filthy Russian hands from me" she said, and took a deep breath as he replied.

"Oh, you'll have to make sure of that yourself, my dear." And Reddington agreed.

"Ivan loves to show power. He did this to Katerina and many other women in his life. The minute Katerina defied him, he destroyed her. You'll have to be careful, agent.

"I'm ready" she said, and Donald looked at her. Their eyes met and he knew that she was scared, but determined. He wished he could thank her. Deep inside he felt much more personally attached to this case, so each and every effort from another person meant they were putting themselves in line to save his Liz. He almost thought it was unfair.

"What about me? Where do I fit in?" he said, putting himself as volunteer.

"I think you should stay away as much as possible, Donald. Go in with the swat team in the end if we get the opportunity." Reddington said, and Donald turned immediately to Cooper.

"What? No way! I'm going in!"

"To one hand, Reddington is right, Donald. You're a target, definitely. Berlin knows you're Liz's husband, if he wants to get to her, he will target you."

"I don't care! I want to face this man. I want to get him away from my family"

"Is this too personal to you, Agent Ressler?" Cooper's tone indicated that he had to take it down a notch, or else he would be taken off the case. He nodded and breathed to calm down. Howard then determined that he would be on the surveillance van outside the facility observing Samar and Petr go in, and they would follow the lead then.

"Okay. Let's go!" Director Cooper gave the thumbs up, and everyone moved to start their parts on the plan. It was time.


	11. Chapter 11

When something goes right, too easy, a wise man is bound to suspect. That's what Donald felt when they took over Berlin's hideout in just a few minutes.

"Where is he? Where is Berlin?" Tom Keen was interrogating one of the guards who were taken hostage, while the other men from the FBI went over the facility.

Raymond Reddington just observed, from afar, and Donald knew that was not a good sign. He knew something, or at least felt it. He approached the men.

"He's not here, right?" he said, and Red just nodded, closing his eyes with a disappointed sigh.

"Apparently not."

"Do you suspect him?" he pointed Keen with his chin, and Reddington looked at him with piercing eyes. Tom Keen was going rough on the man he was questioning, too rough. Exaggeration, or a way to pretend?

"Leave him" Reddington said, and Keen stopped, confused. The man approached him and took the hostage from his grip, throwing him on the floor as he got closer to Tom, intimidatingly.

"What? We must know! He was here, I swear!" Red just got even closer, getting Tom by his neck, and pressing, slightly. "No, wait, I swear!" and he started to cough.

Donald didn't know if he looked the other way or stopped him, but then he noticed the man who was being questioned start laughing on the floor. He moved to him immediately.

"Something funny?" he stepped on the man's hand, making him scream, what caught Red's attention, and he released Tom.

"He said you were going to kill each other. And then, it would be too late." Ressler kneeled on the men's chest and grabbed his neck, very similar to what Red was doing to Tom.

"How did he know we were coming? Who told him?"

"You have a little bird, agent. And this little bird is taking him home." The man said, and then two bullets hit him on the head, startling Donald. He looked up to see Red pointing the gun.

"We have another mole." He said, as he knew it wasn't Diane, he had taken care of this. Aram and the other agents came running as they heard the shots, and looked at the scene, perplexed.

"what happened?" Aram said, and then Reddington pointed the gun at him. "Woah, what?"

"We have another mole, and I'll start working on the suspects. It isn't Donald, or me. So."

"Why me? Why not him?" Aram pointed at Tom Keen, but Red dismissed it.

"I already checked him" he said, as Tom was still rubbing his neck to recover.

"I'm not the mole, Donald, tell him. Why would I come here with you if I was the mole? You were bond to find out something was off as soon as you got here, it wouldn't be smart of me to be here when you did it, would it?"

Donald stopped to think ,and his friend and partner was right. I would be smarter to be out of the raid, somewhere far, or… Somewhere they could help Berlin immediately.

"Samar offered to stay with Liz" he said, looking at Reddington, and the older man figured it out immediately as well. He lowered the gun and both of them ran.

"Call for backup, Aram. Send them to my house! Now!" he said, but Aram was already on it.

xxxxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

'You should calm down, Liz" Samar said, as Liz was again rubbing her hands, apprehensive.

"How can you ask me to calm down?" she said, looking at the woman.

"I mean that, for the baby" Samar answered calmly, and Liz took a deep breath. She was right, but it was hard to stay calm. She looked at her phone again, nothing. She stood up.

"Where are you going?" Samar said, touching her weapon. Liz noted that and though it was weird.

"I'm going to get some water. Is it okay?" her tone was ironic. She was a bit irritated with the woman, she wanted to be alone. But she knew she needed protection.

She put her phone into her pocket, and then felt it vibrate. She picked it up right after and looked at it as she went to the kitchen. It was a message from Donald.

"Samar is with Berlin. Get out of there, now!"

She looked back at the woman, who was distracted with the tv. Maya was sitting right next to her, and there was no way to call the girl without calling the woman's attention. She continued on her way to the kitchen, trying to recall her tactical training.

In the kitchen, she put a knife into her pocket and searched for the gun they had stashed somewhere, but she couldn't remember where. She typed a quick message back.

"She's with Maya. I can't leave. Where are you?"

Then, she decided to take a chance.

"Maya, honey? Are you hungry? I'll make you a Peanut butter and Jelly Sandwich." She screamed from the kitchen, wondering if that would bring the girl in. She knew they only ate in the kitchen.

She found the gun under the first drawer in the cabinet, and checked it to see if it had ammo. Two bullets, it was the deal, for safety only. She could bring Samar down with two bullets. Her men, on the other hand. There were 5 more men around the house, and she didn't know if they were traitors like Samar or if they were FBI. Regardless, they might try to attack her if she takes a stand against the agent, because they don't know who she really is yet. She closed her eyes as she heard someone coming to the kitchen, relieved. Maybe she wouldn't need to shoot anyone.

"Hey, kiddo, what do you want, blueberry or raspberry?" she asked, but when she turned she didn't like what she saw.

Samar was holding Maya, covering her mouth with one hand as she pointed a gun to her head with the other. The other men were around them, shielding her and pointing a gun at Liz. From behind them, a voice she knew, from way back in time.

"Hello, Masha" he said, and revealed himself.

"Rostova" Liz muttered under her breath, holding the gun in her hand tightly and pointing it at him.

"Oh, sweetie. No, no, no. No guns in the house, or do you want something to happen with the kids?" he turned to Maya, and Samar tightened her grip on the girl. She closed her eyes, tears coming from them, as she tried to scream but couldn't.

"Please, let her go. I'll do whatever you want, just let my daughter go."

She lowered the gun, scared, and dropped it far from her. He kicked it even further, as he approached.

"Aren't you going to give your father a kiss?" he came closer to her, and she frowned as he kissed her cheek. He put a hand on her belly, and looked down.

"Oh, look at you, Masha. So big! Too bad what's inside it is from that American scum. You know you can't have this baby, right?" and he took a knife from his pocket and put it on her belly, and she could feel the cold steel of it on her skin.

"No" she cried, and she didn't know what to do. She was powerless, once he was threatening her children. "What do you want?" she said, her watery eyes looking deep inside his.

"You know what I want, Masha. I want the Fulcrum."

"I don't have it" she said, and he laughed scornfully.

"Don't lie to your father, Masha Ivanova. Where is it?" he turned the knife, and the sharpened edge grazed her skin, scratching it. She knew all he had to do was press it and it would cut her. She cried again.

"I don't know!" she screamed, and she gripped the table behind her, with fear. "You're not my father."

The man seemed surprised to see her say that, as if he didn't know she already knew the truth. She noticed that, and decided to use to her advantage. "My father is Raymond Reddington, and my name is Elizabeth" she said firmly, as she reached into her pocket and then stuck the knife she had there into his neck.

Because of the surprise, he pressed the knife he had to her belly, cutting her deep before he let it go to hold his own wound. The men around him also got surprised, and started moving. At the same moment Liz plunged the knife into Ivan, Maya bit Samar's hand and then kicked her foot with all the strength she got, forcing the woman to let her go, and then she ran as fast as she could, getting out of the back door.

As Liz saw her daughter free and running towards safety, she dove to the floor and reached her gun as the men started shooting her, but then somebody else came shooting from outside, killing the men as she stood up. It was a big dark man, Red's man.

She sighed relieved as he took over the situation, and then both of them pointed a gun at Samar, who saw had no way out and surrendered, tossing her gun away from her.

Liz held her wound and was starting to shake, nervous, but couldn't move. She was holding Samar at gun point as Dembe took out of his bag a rope and went around the woman to tie her hands.

As soon as he dropped her down to the floor and tied her, a bang on the door showed that the rest of the men had arrived. Donald came first, and she finally dropped the gun, falling into his arms.

"Oh my God, Donald! My belly!" she screamed, and he touched her wound desperate.

"No, no, calm down, calm down, Liz!" he ripped her t-shirt to see it, and could see it wasn't so serious, it was just a cut. "You're going to be fine, baby, calm down." He held her close, shushing her as the other men came inside.

They saw the men down on the ground, and Reddington stopped particularly at Ivan, dead with a kitchen knife to his neck. He turned and kneeled next to Don and Liz, and touched her face.

"I'm sorry you had to do that" he said, deeply sorry. She looked at him, and then put his arms around him on a quick but heartfelt hug. Then, she went back to Donald.

Cooper took over Samar, ordering his men to take her into custody. She looked deep into Aram's eyes before going out.

"We should've known, sir." Aram said, hurt. "I… should've known."

"You had no way to know, Aram. Truth is we should've paid a bit more attention on that heated little British woman, she was the one we should've trusted." He said, regretting being suspicious of Meera Malik. "Please, start over the process, here. Let's get out of this place as soon as we can."

"Maya! Where's Maya?" Donald said, and he and Liz stood up quickly, going to the garden. The little girl was hidden behind a bush, curled up and crying. He touched her back slightly and she screamed, but then saw it was her father and jumped to his arms.

After being looked at by a paramedic, Liz was fine and her cut was superficial. Men were coming and going into her house, but she found some peace and quiet by sitting by Reddington on the couch.

"Thank you" she said, and the man looked at her.

"Thank me for what, Lizzie? You did it all. I'm sorry we weren't here." He repeated, and she tapped his hand slightly.

"What did he want?" Red asked, and she looked away, thinking about the threats she had suffered.

"The Fulcrum. I don't even know what it is. I just heard about it. Why would he think I have it?" she asked, and then looked at him. He stopped to think, and then said.

"Did your mother give you a pendant, and old and heavy amber locket?" she thought about it, and then stood up, going up the stairs. She opened her jewelry box and took the locket from a hidden compartment inside.

She looked at it as Reddington entered the room, and spoke from behind her.

"Before it all went South, your mother and I started a plan to take Rostova down. I tried putting this plan into action even when she didn't forgive me, and it almost worked, that's why he created Berlin. I wasn't successful because I needed 1 final piece in the puzzle. This locket."

"What does it do?" she said, holding it in front of her eyes and analysing it, curious.

"It's a file. It's a list including a series of names of criminals, ruthless and smart criminals most agencies don't even know about. A blacklist."

She handed it to him, but he denied it.

"No. I'm done with it. give it to your husband. Maybe there's a chance the FBI can do good with it, take these people off the street".

She held it close to her chest, and then put it into her pocket.

"They are leaving" Donald appeared at the door, and Reddington took his leave.

"I'll leave you two alone. Lizzie, I hope one day you can give me the pleasure of being part of your life. Until then, I'll be watching you. He held her hand and squeezed it, and she gave him a faint smile. She wasn't sure that day would ever come, but she was starting to feel in her heart maybe there was a way to go over all the mess.

Reddington left, and Donald came closer, taking her into his arms, in which she fell gladly.

"Uh, is it over?' she said, her voice muffled by his chest.

"It's over." He smiled, relieved. "our house looks a mess, though.

She looked up at him, eye to eye. "What if we moved? Let's find somewhere new, start again." He frowned, thinking about it. "no more lies" He smiled, starting to like the idea. She smiled back, and then kissed him on the lips.


	12. Epilogue - THE END

Epilogue

It was a sunny day, a great day for a picnic. Liz and Donald were walking on the park, holding each other close, enjoying the breeze when two little girls hit them, forcing them to break apart to take them in between.

They all laughed as Maya took her father's hand, while the other hand held her sister's little hand tightly. The little girl raised her small arm to take her mother's hand, and the four of them walked together hand in hand towards the spot where they had set their towel and food.

The girls let go of them and ran towards it as they saw the man sitting there.

"Grandpa!" Maya screamed, and Reddington opened his arms wide to take in both girls. Liz observed, smiling happy, as her daughters showed her father the leaves they had caught in the park and put into their pockets.

"that's beautiful, Maya. What did you get, Kat?" Reddington said, interested in what the girls had to show him.

"Katie found a brown one, a sign that the fall is coming" Maya said, and her grand father nudged her with his shoulder

"good one, smart girl! Best of the class, right?" she smiled and then high-fived him

Don approached Liz and took her by her waist, and she put her arms around him, resting her head on his shoulder.

"If 5 years ago someone had told me we would be having a picnic at the park with Raymond Reddington, I would probably had put a gun to this person's face." He said, and Liz laughed out loud, placing a kiss on his neck and snuggling closer.

"We can never predict the future, hun? 10 years ago I was a spy in Russia, and look at me now."

"Are you sorry, operative Rostova?" she frowned at the name, and he smiled.

"My name is Elizabeth Ressler, and I am a very happy married woman, mother of two beautiful daughters, and I wouldn't change it for anything." She said, and then kissed him, their kiss passionate and deep, as their girls came running towards them and kicked them on their legs.

"Ew! Stop it! c'mon!" Maya screamed, taking their hands and leading them to the towel, where they sat and started playing. Donald laid down as both girls jumped on him, and Liz sat next to Reddington, who put his arm around her and placed a kiss on her head.

His phone rang, and he spoke for 10 seconds on it before hanging it up and putting into his pocket again.

"Dembe?" she asked.

"Petr" he corrected, and she was surprised. "He's been helping me with something."

"You're not corrupting my brother again, are you, Red?" he looked at her with squinty eyes, and then pulled her closer.

"You know very well I have gone legit, now, Lizzie, and I have no intention of going back to my life of crime. Your brother is helping me because, after all, he has been well trained and is quite the asset. You weren't so upset when he helped the FBI on the blacklist cases."

"Well, they are the FBI, right?" she had become highly protective of her brother, for the four years they had to rebuild their relationship. 4 years had passed after everything, and a lot had changed.

The Fulcrum was being used by the FBI to hunt down the names of the list, and Petr – aka Tom Keen – was helping the FBI with his out-of-the-box skills and contacts. Apparently, he was now with Reddington's team. "Just take care of him, will ya?"

"Oh course, kiddo. Don't you trust your father?" she chuckled, and then became serious as she saw her younger kid slap Maya slightly.

"Katerina! What is that? Say you're sorry to your sister, now!" the little girl whispered "sowy" and Maya gave her a big hug, and then both went away, running around in the park. Donald sat up straight and poured them a glass of wine as Reddington laid back on his elbows and Liz sat between Don's legs.

The sun was going down, and the slight end of summer breeze announced it was going to be a warm night.

* * *

A/N - Yeey! The End. I guess this is the first long fic I end. great milestone for me xD Thanks a lot for everyone who has read it, and please don't forget to tell me what you thought of the end. I rushed it a little, but I liked it, anyway. Merry Christmas to anyone who celebrates it, and to all a great (and The Blacklist filled) 2016!


End file.
